Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes
11:40 AM: The space shuttle disaster occurred this morning at this time.
02:00 PM: I was attending class at the time at Pitt, but learned of the incident a couple hours later upon my return home. I had no idea this had happened until I switched on the tube. Then, what a shock! I flipped from channel to channel, mesmerized and unbelieving. How could such a horrific catastrophe happen in such a short time? I mean, the explosion itself took all of perhaps two seconds to completely envelop the shuttle.
04:00 PM: I didn’t get much studying done this afternoon, because I couldn’t stop thinking about those poor astronauts that were lost in the explosion. They’ve played the Challenger explosion video on television many times by now, and I’ve viewed most of those replays. I hoped that the seven astronauts escaped somehow and had parachuted to safety, though I probably knew that this was near impossible.
04:30 PM: I cried. It took a while to come. But when I laid down to take nap, I started balling, and continued for perhaps fifteen minutes. Not that I was fighting the feeling to cry. I just didn’t have it until then. I suppose it took me a couple hours to come to full grips with the extreme sadness of today’s event. Questions of how this could have happened and why, darted around in my mind, and the extreme uncertainty they produced, coupled with the deaths of the Challenger Seven, made the tears pour relentlessly. Eventually though, I fell asleap.
06:00 PM: Then, I awoke from the nap to hear President Reagan talking about the accident. His voice was calming and reassuring, and given that his speech was carried on virtually all the media in this area, was clear evidence that this sad time was quite real. Still though, it feels like a dream, and I’m still hoping that somehow, this is not real. That teacher-turned-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, was so excited to be a part of that mission and so many were excited to witness her become the first teacher in space. But now, all that’s over. She’s gone. My stomach is upset and each time I think of her, it gets worse. I don’t want this to be real.
The mission had been delayed several times already so that by today, people were really ready to see it finally lift off. So it enjoyed lots of media coverages in the days leading up to today. Plus, the fact that McAuliffe was to be the first civilian to ride along with the shuttle crew seemed to rivet people to the unfolding story, and it saddened most poignantly to see the mission end so abruptly before it was supposed to.
In some ways, losing this school teacher felt like losing a close friend or relative, because they talked so much about her in the news, and displayed pictures of her so much, that I had begun to feel like I knew her. In fact, if I would indeed have known her, I think she would have been a great friend to have. So I’m mourning the loss of her, though I never really knew her. Odd, but not unusual for me. I cried when John Lennon died also, and I knew him not either.
10:00 PM: I called Mom for some comforting. Today was mostly sunny but very cold here in Pittsburgh as well as back home in Bellwood. All of the family was shocked and horrified, and we all needed each other to stop our emotional internal reeling from the mishap.