Memories of Challenger: Living History

It is very hard to believe that the Challenger accident happened 22 years ago. It is one of my earlier memories and one I cannot forget even to this day. I was a fourth grader at my local elementary school and was so excited for this day to come. My teacher, Mrs. Collins, had been preparing us for the launch. This was going to be a historic flight, but not for the reasons we thought. Mrs. Christa McAuliffe was a teacher and she was going on that flight! Mrs. McAuliffe looked like a fun teacher and so pretty; surely she was less dour than our Mrs. Collins. I wondered what it would be like to have her for a teacher.

We were given a choice that day. As the oldest students in the school, we could go out to the playground for recess or stay inside and watch the launch. I chose to stay inside, partly out of my desire to see a real space ship go up and partly because I did not feel like bundling up for the freezing Wisconsin winter.

The time came and we counted down with the tower...blast off! I was in awe. And then shocked and confused. What in the world happened? It looked like the space ship had come apart. My teacher ran to the TV set and turned it away from us. She said something might have come off the shuttle. I thought it looked like it had blown up. We all sat in silence. My teacher later remarked that she had never seen a class so quiet or grim.

I went home that night confused and asked my parents about it. They said the shuttle had blown up and we all gathered around the news, my dad trying to adjust the bunny ears on the TV for better reception. We saw tear-stained faces of the astronaut's loved ones. There was shock on the faces of the news reporters. It was a national tragedy.

Most of what I felt came from confusion. Why? Why did it happen? What about Mrs. McAuliffe? Did she survive? I had visions of astronauts parachuting to earth and into the arms of their loved ones. I remember being anxious and scared. If that could happen to a civilian, like a teacher, what did it mean for the rest of us?

It was the first time I remember feeling sorrow for someone I never met. It was the first time I felt connected to my country as a whole. We all grieved for the lost astronauts and were in shock over the accident. Astronauts were heroes! This should not happen to them. It was the first time this nine-year-old girl learned about living history.