"Today we honor those who gave their lives to push the boundaries of human achievement."

[www.nasa.gov]

Thanks for posting this.
Remembering where I was when the Challenger crashed ranks with where I was when Kennedy was shot and 911. Sad day.

I couldn't watch the videos all the way through. Too difficult to watch and relive

Remember when we had a manned space flight program?

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MGS_forgot_password
Remember when we had a manned space flight program?

Oh shut it.

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Always a day of remembrance to me. I was assigned to our Space Shuttle photo coverage for the first 24 missions. The Challenger launch was the first mission I did not cover, I have always been thankful for that. After the first 10 or so launch's, media attention dwindled. It was just a few of us there every time and we got to know many of the NASA launch workers. Being there would have meant seeing people I considered to be friends suffer a loss. That wasn't my what I wanted. I understood the newsworthy aspect, but I also had my own morals to consider.

Added to that, Roger Chaffee from Apollo 1 was a cousin. I didn't know him, but it still brought the tragedy home a bit.

Brave souls our astronauts are. Anyone who thinks it is just like a plane ride is sorely mistaken.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

Many modern day conveniences come from these missions. It would be pretty scary knowing how much power is behind your back. A great sacrifice indeed.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

"Just after liftoff at .678 seconds into the flight, photographic data shows a strong puff of gray smoke was spurting from the vicinity of the aft field joint on the right solid rocket booster. Computer graphic analysis of the film from the pad cameras indicated the initial smoke came from the 270 to 310-degree sector of the circumference of the aft field joint of the right solid rocket booster. This area of the solid booster faces the external tank. The vaporized material streaming from the joint indicated there was not a complete sealing action within the joint.

Eight more distinctive puffs of increasingly blacker smoke were recorded between .836 and 2.500 seconds. The smoke appeared to puff upwards from the joint. While each smoke puff was being left behind by the upward flight of the shuttle, the next fresh puff could be seen near the level of the joint. The multiple smoke puffs in this sequence occurred at about four times per second, approximating the frequency of the structural load dynamics and resultant joint flexing. As the shuttle increased its upward velocity, it flew past the emerging and expanding smoke puffs. The last smoke was seen above the field joint at 2.733 seconds."

You may read about the next and final 70 seconds of the flight here.