I was 7 years old when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. It changed my life. January 28, 1986 was the date, and I was in second grade.

I can still remember what happened. 2 classes at my elementary school had convened to watch Where the Red Fern Grows. This was the second time I had seen it that year, and this was one time I would not forget. About half way through, the movie was stopped and the TV was attached to the cable outlet. On came the news, probably Tom Brokaw or Sam Donaldson, I don't remember. What I do remember, though, is the horrifying image of the shuttle exploding.

My teachers did their best to explain what had happened, but the questions overwhelmed me. Why did it happen? How? Are they still alive? In fact, I remember thinking for about a week that there was a possibility that the astronauts had survived and that everything was going to be okay, but that ultimately was not the case.

I consider the Challenger accident to be one of those incidents that has a lasting significance on the youth of the day, much like the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. For me, and others, it was one of those situations wherre you remember exactly where you were when you heard. I know I will never forget the images of the shuttle exploding and breaking up or of the onlookers at the Cape watching in horror as the hopes of the shuttle program were smashed.

Even after the successful return to space of Discovery in 1988, I didn't really think all that much about the explosion until a few years ago. I wanted to know what happened to the crew in the final moments. Call it a morbid fascination, or maybe just a need to know the truth. (For sometime after the accident I shielded myself from what had happened. It was such a horrible tragedy that I just didn't want to deal with what had happened.) At this time, I had the resource of the Internet to help me. I came accross the Rogers Commission report, NASA's official report of what happened. I was fascinated to learn that it was a possibility that some or all of the crew had survived the initial explosion and had been aware of what was going on until the debris in which they were in had hit the water. Astounded was I to learn that after the explosion, the crew compartment had survived intact and continued flying from 44,000 feet on up to 65,000 feet before making its long descent back to earth.

Besides that information, I was not prepared for the transcript of mission control to shuttle communications. The Rogers Commission's report shows that the last words from the shuttle were "Uh oh" and then all data was lost. However, recently I found what was rumored to be the final moments of the Challenger breakup and drop into the ocean. I've since learned about the invalidity of that information, but that nonetheless got the wheels turning again. What really happened to them after orbiter break-up? We know the crew was aware of what was going to happen at T+73 when the words Uh oh were heard from Pilot Michael Smith. The final moments of Challenger will probably forever remain a mystery.

It's amazing what was going on in the world at the time. At that age I had been told about the Soviets, the bomb, and what could happen if they ever got a hair up their ass and decided to blow us to kingdom come. But that never happened. As a friend reminded me, the USSR was in decay at the time of the Challenger explosion. We were only 3 years from the fall of the Berlin wall. Still, if there was anything that could have shattered my false sense of security in America, it was the explosion of the Challenger. The Shuttle program was something exciting for a 7-year-old at that time. Movies like Space Camp, and the actual Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama did much to promote the excitement of space. I, as a child, had so much confidence in the space shuttle that I never thought anything like this could happen.

But, it did, and perhaps it was the wake-up call that America needed. Remember, this was the 80s, and just before the start of a recession that would last until Clinton took office 7 years later. The next 7 years were a slow and, in my opinion, rather depressing time for America. With the recent successes with the shuttle program (recently the repair mission for the Hubble space telescope) we have something to once again be proud of. NASA, however, can't make the same mistakes again.

Even with all of the controversy surrounding the Challenger and NASA, it's important for people not to forget what this program is for and what tax dollars are being spent on -- the exploration of space and the advancement of science. Our planet is fragile and requires a lot of attention. Investing in the future of space exploration helps humans invest in their own well-being and life. People may not see it now, but even with the problems encountered by NASA, the investments we make now will certainly pay off in the future.

Other sites and media with information about the Challenger accident:
Challenger Accident Homepage
Challenger Accident Memories
NASA Info on OV-99, Challenger
Rogers Commission Report
A short MPEG clip of the last few seconds of the Challenger Launch