20th Anniversary of Challenger Crash

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Crash. For those of you who don't remember, or wasn't around, it was the space shuttle carrying the first civilian, Christa McAuliffe, a teacher, into space. All aboard were lost.

I remember exactly where I was too, its one of my clearest and earliest memories. I was in first grade, and I remember that I had walked into my classroom after eating lunch to get my coat to go outside for recess. My teacher, Mrs. Levang was there, and she was watching the Challenger launch on TV. I don't remember if I got to see it take actually take off, but I do know that when I went to my classroom, the TV was showing a black spiral twist going up into the air. I'm also not really sure if I actually saw it explode, but I believe I did. I was six or seven at the time. I didn't understand the significance of what happened then, but after the 2003 explosion of the Columbia 17 years later, I completely understood the importance of both explosions and what it meant for America and the continuation of the Space Program.