1/28/86 The Challenger

[AdamJoshua]

Remember the 7 we lost on this date in 1986. I was down by the beach watching the launch with friends, we knew something was wrong as soon as it happened, after you watch so many launches you know what to expect. We all rode our bikes to a friend's house because he lived the closest and turned on the news, there we sat and watched the tv, while looking out the front window of his house you could still see the contrails and debris falling from the sky.

It was a rough time to live in Satellite Beach Florida, just 50 miles from the Cape, everything shut down, stopped, all of beaches were closed down for weeks while they picked up the pieces, they brought them to Patrick Air Force Base just a mile down the road, locked away in one of the main hangers they started to assemble the pieces to start the investigation. There was an iconic picture of one of the helmets that washed up on the shore, it had a hole burned through it and they showed how it melted because of the incredible heat, a high school friend of mine was actually the person that found the helmet while walking on the beach.

It was almost 19 years to the day before that when the Apollo 1 accident happened.

Below is Ronald Reagan's speech to the nation where he spoke those iconic words, "Slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

Rest in Peace Francis R. Scobee, Commander - Michael J. Smith, Pilot - Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist - Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist - Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist - Greg Jarvis, Payload Specialist and Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist and first teacher in space.

Reagan's Speech




Again this is not important enough for CNN to cover.