Starman
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Was there fallout from that decision? I would guess it would be attacked as insensitive and disrespectful, at the very least, not to mention insulting and exploitative.
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36 years ago this morning
- Thread starter maumann
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WriteThinking
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I was clueless, until I found out from my newspaper.
At the time, I was working in my first internship -- voluntary, for the clips, contacts and experience -- at a local afternoon newspaper during the daytime/early night hours, while also working in a graveyard-shift job as a clerk/cashier at an AM/PM mini-market/gas station. So, I had slept for a few hours after getting off work, and before going into the paper. I strolled into the office at about 1 p.m., or so, if I recall, completely oblivious to what had happened.
We had one of those old-style "books" of each recent edition of the paper laid out on a back counter in the newsroom that everyone used for future reference, to look things up, and, as in my case that day, just to glance through the latest news and take a quick look at the the headlines.
As I pashed by that counter on the way to my desk, I stopped to take a look at that day's edition, which had just printed an hour or so earlier and I hadn't seen it at all. Well, I took one look at the front page and was stopped in my tracks by the 72-point head and the picture of the explosion that probably everybody ran that day. I remember just saying, "Oh, my god..." in disbelief. The news editor, whose desk was situated nearby just went, "Yep...What? You didn't know? "
No, I hadn't seen or heard anything about it. It truly was a shocking thing to, essentially, wake up to.
At the time, I was working in my first internship -- voluntary, for the clips, contacts and experience -- at a local afternoon newspaper during the daytime/early night hours, while also working in a graveyard-shift job as a clerk/cashier at an AM/PM mini-market/gas station. So, I had slept for a few hours after getting off work, and before going into the paper. I strolled into the office at about 1 p.m., or so, if I recall, completely oblivious to what had happened.
We had one of those old-style "books" of each recent edition of the paper laid out on a back counter in the newsroom that everyone used for future reference, to look things up, and, as in my case that day, just to glance through the latest news and take a quick look at the the headlines.
As I pashed by that counter on the way to my desk, I stopped to take a look at that day's edition, which had just printed an hour or so earlier and I hadn't seen it at all. Well, I took one look at the front page and was stopped in my tracks by the 72-point head and the picture of the explosion that probably everybody ran that day. I remember just saying, "Oh, my god..." in disbelief. The news editor, whose desk was situated nearby just went, "Yep...What? You didn't know? "
No, I hadn't seen or heard anything about it. It truly was a shocking thing to, essentially, wake up to.
FileNotFound
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A friend and I cut our third-hour clash during our senior year in high school to go down to the library and watch the launch on one of the TVs that rolled on one of those high carts. As that Y-shaped cloud formed on the screen, I turned to my friend and said, "We just watched people die on live TV."
Driftwood
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My sophomore English teacher's husband - a science teacher at another local school - was a finalist to be the first teacher in space. I don't know exactly how close he came to being on the shuttle, but he was in the final cut. That was the talk of the town.
When I was stationed in Orlando, there was a nighttime shuttle launch, and I remember even from that distance, there was a fireball the size of a quarter going through the air.
The first lap dance I ever got was at a strip club in Cocoa Beach. For a country boy literally just a few months off the farm, well, good times.
When I was stationed in Orlando, there was a nighttime shuttle launch, and I remember even from that distance, there was a fireball the size of a quarter going through the air.
The first lap dance I ever got was at a strip club in Cocoa Beach. For a country boy literally just a few months off the farm, well, good times.
Mngwa
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We watched a midnight launch from the Keys many moons ago, sitting on the dock behind the Caribbean Club (where Key Largo was filmed in part). Sipping drinks, one other couple there. It looked like an inch long cigar. So bright. That's a lot of miles from KSC.
Twirling Time
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The Challenger explosion happened on my brother's 17th birthday.
The Columbia accident was more up close and personal. I was in the office on Saturday morning doing basketball scores, came down with a stomach bug and blew Whataburger in the wastebasket about 15 minutes before "Hey, did you hear the space shuttle crashed in Plano?"
The Columbia accident was more up close and personal. I was in the office on Saturday morning doing basketball scores, came down with a stomach bug and blew Whataburger in the wastebasket about 15 minutes before "Hey, did you hear the space shuttle crashed in Plano?"
BTExpress
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Last edited:
dixiehack
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Columbia disaster will be 19 years ago this Tuesday. Saw that one on CNN while touring the birthing suites not long before my firstborn child arrived - on the day we invaded Iraq. First quarter of 2003 was a rough ride.
I was barely 2 when Challenger happened.
Columbia happened during my freshman year of college on a Saturday morning. I slept in but got a text or an AOL instant message or whatever from a friend. Quite a day, especially considering the students a year or two older than me were also in college during 9/11. The Iraq war started about six weeks later, as the invasion started the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in the midst of CMU's most recent appearance to date (we made the second round and got hammered by Duke).
Columbia happened during my freshman year of college on a Saturday morning. I slept in but got a text or an AOL instant message or whatever from a friend. Quite a day, especially considering the students a year or two older than me were also in college during 9/11. The Iraq war started about six weeks later, as the invasion started the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in the midst of CMU's most recent appearance to date (we made the second round and got hammered by Duke).
Starman
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Columbia was another situation where initial media coverage was floating fantastic rescue or survival scenarios they'd seen in "Space Cowboys" or something, but anyone who was fairly familiar with the design of the spacecraft knew pretty much exactly what had happened within seconds of seeing the first videos and still pics.
mpcincal
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This is a slightly edited post of mine from the thread we had on this in 2011:
I was a senior in high school at the time, and our school was about 2 or 3 miles from Vandenberg Air (now Space
) Force Base, which was preparing to become the eventual West Coast launch site for the shuttle. We actually weren't watching the launch live, I had first period English and it was starting out as a typical day until the bell rang at the end of the period and we all got up out of our desks. Suddenly, the loudspeaker came on and it was the principal saying he had the radio feed from the coverage of the "shuttle explosion," which we didn't even know about yet, and started playing it over the loudspeaker. I rushed to my next clash, and they already had a TV in there with the news report on. The first thing I saw as I entered the clashroom was the huge contrail from the blast on the TV screen.
Obviously the biggest loss was the astronauts and the person who was supposed to be the first civilian in space. But, with the subsequent cancellation of the West Coast program, it was a big hit for my town. Like a lot of cities, it's struggling big time with the current economy (it's no better or worse today), but I wonder if things would be a little different if we were able to follow through on those launches out here.
I was a senior in high school at the time, and our school was about 2 or 3 miles from Vandenberg Air (now Space
) Force Base, which was preparing to become the eventual West Coast launch site for the shuttle. We actually weren't watching the launch live, I had first period English and it was starting out as a typical day until the bell rang at the end of the period and we all got up out of our desks. Suddenly, the loudspeaker came on and it was the principal saying he had the radio feed from the coverage of the "shuttle explosion," which we didn't even know about yet, and started playing it over the loudspeaker. I rushed to my next clash, and they already had a TV in there with the news report on. The first thing I saw as I entered the clashroom was the huge contrail from the blast on the TV screen.Obviously the biggest loss was the astronauts and the person who was supposed to be the first civilian in space. But, with the subsequent cancellation of the West Coast program, it was a big hit for my town. Like a lot of cities, it's struggling big time with the current economy (it's no better or worse today), but I wonder if things would be a little different if we were able to follow through on those launches out here.
