remembering a moment in history.
It was a cold winter day. I was seven years old and in 2nd grade. I think it was about mid-morning & the school was really a-buzz that day. The teachers were all excited and walking around rounding up the children. We were told that we were all going into the big music room on the bottom floor to watch TV! We had no idea what kind of TV we were going to see but it was a nice break from math so we were excited too.
Some of us found our seats & some of us sat cross-legged or "indian style" (what we called it back then) on the floor while one of the teachers turned on the TV. Another teacher announced that were were going to see the space shuttle Challenger launch into outer space and one of the passengers in the shuttle was a teacher, just like our teacher, named Christa McAuliffe. We focused on the television.
The big rocket shaped thing took off from the ground with the crowd cheering while blazing fire came out the end of the spaceship from the engine. It certainly was an awesome sight. The room broke into a sea wows and ooohs and excited gasps.
Then there was an explosion & Challenger was no more. Debris was falling onto the ground & it seemed like the shuttle did an amazing magic trick...it disappeared. The teachers in the room were dumbfounded. Some of them started crying. I don't think a lot of us seven years olds knew why they were really crying at that time. To us, TV was like watching a movie...we were always told it wasn't real. But this time it was and our teachers were very upset by what had happened.
We were escorted back to class, all walking the hallways in a very somber manner. Our break from schoolwork was over. Our teacher's dream of having a comrade in the Challenger was over.
Until now. http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,,2145242,00.html
Barbara Morgan is up in space right now, living out that astronaut dream that Christa tried to get to.
I never knew that she was the alternate for Christa McAuliffe way back when. At 55, she now gets to explore space first hand. And so far, the shuttle Endeavour is doing just fine.
Come back safe, Barbara.
Some of us found our seats & some of us sat cross-legged or "indian style" (what we called it back then) on the floor while one of the teachers turned on the TV. Another teacher announced that were were going to see the space shuttle Challenger launch into outer space and one of the passengers in the shuttle was a teacher, just like our teacher, named Christa McAuliffe. We focused on the television.
The big rocket shaped thing took off from the ground with the crowd cheering while blazing fire came out the end of the spaceship from the engine. It certainly was an awesome sight. The room broke into a sea wows and ooohs and excited gasps.
Then there was an explosion & Challenger was no more. Debris was falling onto the ground & it seemed like the shuttle did an amazing magic trick...it disappeared. The teachers in the room were dumbfounded. Some of them started crying. I don't think a lot of us seven years olds knew why they were really crying at that time. To us, TV was like watching a movie...we were always told it wasn't real. But this time it was and our teachers were very upset by what had happened.
We were escorted back to class, all walking the hallways in a very somber manner. Our break from schoolwork was over. Our teacher's dream of having a comrade in the Challenger was over.
Until now. http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,,2145242,00.html
Barbara Morgan is up in space right now, living out that astronaut dream that Christa tried to get to.I never knew that she was the alternate for Christa McAuliffe way back when. At 55, she now gets to explore space first hand. And so far, the shuttle Endeavour is doing just fine.
Come back safe, Barbara.
posted by Alanda at 6:34 PM
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