Challenger Anniversary

Twenty years ago today, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

I remember sitting in Mr. Alexander's physics class when suddenly Mr. Wish walked in, looking gray. Mr. Wish was one of the other science teachers at Sussex-Hamilton. He'd applied to be the teacher in space, but was turned down. He was an older teacher, and ex-Navy. I assume both of these factors played a role. He walked into the room, whispered to Mr. Alexander, and they both walked out of the room. The class was immediately abuzz.

There was a small group of us in class that was allowed to go into the back room instead of doing worksheets and text-book reading. My friend John and I had been in our seats, but rose to see what was on the radio in the back room. I remember hearing the voice reading out altitudes in the background as the news voice informed us that the Challenger had exploded. Later, I remember watching the endless footage of the explosion on TV. I remember the jokes "NASA stands for Need Another Seven Astronauts" and others that seemed amusing to high school boys, but that don't seem so amusing now. I remember not wanting to think aobut it any more, but hearing about it every day.

But then who knows how much of what I remember actually happened? I'm told that people's memories of events like these are often wildy different from the reality of the event. It was my first experience of a national disaster. It taught me what to expect - endless footage, government organizations denying responsibility, the search for blame. How did these things play out before TV?