Space Shuttle Challenger - 25 Years Later - Where Were You When You Heard?

Challenger: 25 years later, a still painful wound

This is a tribute to the American astronauts that were lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion 25 years ago.

From the article:

A quarter-century later, images of the exploding space shuttle still signify all that can go wrong with technology and the sharpest minds. The accident on Jan. 28, 1986 — a scant 73 seconds into flight, nine miles above the Atlantic for all to see — remains NASA's most visible failure.

It was the world's first high-tech catastrophe to unfold on live TV. Adding to the anguish was the young audience: School children everywhere tuned in that morning to watch the launch of the first schoolteacher and ordinary citizen bound for space, Christa McAuliffe.

I can recall where I was when I first heard the news.
I was in college and in my dorm room.
I was pledging my fraternity at the time.   At that specific time I was "skating".   I had my pledgee uniform on, taking a nap because I was tired.  They had us up late the night before at a "set".   I had ignored a series of calls from my "big brothers" trying to find me.  Cellphones where not a popular item at the time so it was easy to "get lost" for a few hours at a time.

I had the radio playing.  Janet Jacksons'   "Nasty Girls" (or was it "What Have You Done For Me Lately"?  One of the two.) was the popular hit that was playing on the radio.

The announcer stated that the space shuttle had blown up upon lift off.

January 28, 1986