I remember being in 7th grade and we were all summoned to the auditorium. They had set several TV's around on the stage and had them all turned to the same station. And we watched as the Columbia flew in and landed safely. The first that had ever happened. Being a big old scifi, outer space geek myself, I was all about this whole thing and very excited. I remember sitting there thinking to myself "Wow, I'm watching history!" Yeah, what a geek.
I also remember I was in 12th grade typing class, about 11:00 in the morning, when a teacher came in and told our teacher something. She gasped and then had us all stop whatever we were doing. And then she told us the Challenger had exploded. I, and my friends on either side of me, thought it so joke, one in pretty bad taste, but still. But then someone else came in told us the same thing. I'm not sure I typed another thing in class that day.
I also remember in February 2003, on a Sunday when I worked at Borders, my duty was to get the papers put together and on the shelf before we opened, and i remember seeing the headline in bold print about Columbia's destruction and reading about it. I don't know if that was the first time I heard of it or not, but I do know that's when I read all about it in detail.
I guess, after 30 couple years, it's time for anyone, or anything, to retire. But I'm still saddened.
POLT
2 comments:
It is sad. It's even more sad that the president cancelled the funding for the replacement rocket that nasa had in development and had already tested. Now we have to pay for seats on Russian rockets.
Yes, the first flight of a shuttle, I believe it was the Columbia with Crippen at the controls on April 12-14, 1981. They piped in the audio of the landing. We were all mesmerized.
And yes, in 2011 it'll be 30 years. And the Obama administration is finding it difficult to cancel the Orion program. Contracts and all.
I did see a proposal for tele-presence robots within 3 years. That would be interesting.
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