I just had a memory watching the news. It was 25 years ago today that the Challenger Space Shuttle blew up. I was a missionary in Salt Lake and I heard about it, strangely, on the elevator in the Church Office Building where we were going to see someone. We weren't allowed to watch the news, so we heard about it from others who had seen it and were in shock.

Weirdly, I also remembered that a few months earlier, in October, we had been downtown when we heard the bomb Mark Hoffman had placed in the Judge Building killing Steven Christiansen. That too, we did not have access to news, but just what people told us. But because we were downtown we heard the bomb.

Even weirder, I now sometimes go into that same building on business, and I live in a high rise condo just a few blocks from it.

Where were you 25 years ago when you heard about the Mark Hoffman murders and/or the space shuttle?

25 years ago I was still squatting in diapers.

I was a senior at American Fork High School in Utah Valley. We were in class when the shuttle blew up and they made an announcement. Seems like was also my birthday that day. Yay.

Mentally and emotionally, 25 years ago, I was so close to leaving Happy Valley and finally making my escape from Mormonism that I was giddy with the prospect of it all. Apprehensive and nervous, sure, but I was so close to leaving it all behind me, I could taste it.

In the space of one week, I graduated from seminary, high school, moved to go to college (Salt Lake City) and quit the Mormon church.

It was wonderful. Marvelous. As they say.

[edit]The shuttle blew up in January of 1986 and the Hofmann bombings took place in October of that year? Does that sound right?

I lived in an apartment at the mouth of City Creek Canyon, so was quite close to where Hofmann eventually blew himself up. But at the time, I worked 7 days a week and went to school five days a week and didn't have a TV or time for newspapers. I missed it entirely, to be honest. [/edit]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2011 07:52PM by elee.

I was teaching school. Another teacher came in and told me that Challenger had blown up. We turned on the TV and watched the coverage.

Back then, CNN was a scrambled channel where I live, so I couldn't watch any 24-hour news show. I got home from work and was glued to the set for the special news reports.

I didn't know about Hoffman until years after the event. It wasn't news here. Not even amongst the LDS members. I first heard about it when a Christian co-worker bought a book about it at a garage sale and then gave it to me once she'd finished reading it.

rescheduled several times and I was surprised and shocked when it went off as I did not think they were ready. We had been watching this for days, and I was convinced they would wait.

I was out doing errands, as I recall, when I heard it on the radio, raced home and turned on the TV where I was glued for hours and hours watching the whole thing repeat and repeat until it was indelible in my mind. I just kept saying: why, why, why, didn't they wait. It was one of those times when I had no actual connection but it struck me in my gut that it was a horrible mistake.

I was in my dorm room at Wilkes College waiting to go to lunch with two friends. I was listening to the shuttle launch on the radio and was only half paying attention when I heard the Mission Control announcer say the words "we obviously have a major malfunction". That evening, just about the whole house was in the lounge watching the news coverage.

I've watched a lot of the shuttle launches since then and I find I always tense up a bit at the words "Roger, go at throttle up" during liftoff.

It's one of the three moments in my life so far where I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing & how I felt. The others are when Pres. Reagan was shot & 9/11.

And then as I got older it made more sense.

I was at the Univ of Idaho, Jr year. Spent a lot of time at the ROTC building watching the news that day.

I was watching it in second grade. And I too remember knowing it was something really bad but not understanding.

I remember where I was when JFK Jrs plane went down. I was babysitting for a family for a weekend. It was so sad.

9/11 was absolutely surreal. I was working at a bank, and we stayed open that day. I can't even tell you how many old people came in and took out every dollar they had in cash. I think it reminded them of the depression or something. But the sad thing is that if the market HAD crashed, it wouldn't have been worth anything, anyway. I remember that night coming home from work there was a gas station that jacked prices up to over $12/gallon, yet cars were lined up for blocks. They ended up getting sued and having to pay people back. Totally scummy thing to do.

Still in my mom's uterus apparently. I was born the next day.

Growing up, everyone always mentioned that sad event happening the day before.

I was living in Orlando and I saw the explosion on both TV and in real life! My sister was so upset that I had to take her home during her lunch hour. We were both very depressed for about a week.

I was in 2nd grade. My classmates and I didn't see the actual explosion, but we talked about what happened. I remember feeling very sad and hoping that the astronauts didn't suffer.

*edit* I didn't even know about the Hofman thing until I found this site.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2011 08:30PM by itzpapalotl.

We were all stunned when we heard. I didn't remember the early space program deaths when a rocket burned up on the launch pad. My dad worked for NASA since 1964 so I was always interested in the space program.

I was 25 and hot as I ever would be. Working for a company that provided key card access to office buildings and suites. I worked the evening shift which was great because the management went home and we were all under the age of 30 and had a blast.

I had long red blond hair with a perm that made my hair ripple down my back. A perfect hour glass figure. The hair thing was a guy magnet and I actually had trouble dealing with all the attention I got. I went from cute to fox and later gained a bunch of weight in order to hide.

Here in Houston. Many of you know my DH is a 'rocket scientist' here at the Johnson Space Center (NASA). He was working in the Astronaut Office at the time as a payload specialist (he does the same now only for the ISS--Space Station).

I was watching on a local TV station with a girlfriend while the kids played.

DH was in a support room for mission control with a group of Canadians who had a payload onboard . . .

Believe it or not, the Columbia coming down was even worse.

where I remember where I was. It was about 9 am on a Saturday, and I was sitting on the couch watching the landing on TV and saw that little spot in sky get bigger and then multiply . . . and I thought, "Oh *&^$, here we go again". February 1 2003 was my 37th birthday and the day of my baby shower. The day is memorable for a couple reasons.

janebond462 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> where I remember where I was. It was about 9 am
> on a Saturday, and I was sitting on the couch
> watching the landing on TV and saw that little
> spot in sky get bigger and then multiply . . . and
> I thought, "Oh *&^$, here we go again". February
> 1 2003 was my 37th birthday and the day of my baby
> shower. The day is memorable for a couple
> reasons.
I drove by a local flag shop on the day of the Columbia disaster and noticed that there were a number of American flags at half mast[one for each American] and a lone Israeli flag also at half staff. I wondered what was up. I went home and turned on the TV and found out.

I was walking through the locker room with my towel on ready to go into the showers when the announcement came on. The whole locker room went silent.. I didn't even take my shower and just put on my clothes and stunk the rest of the day.

I was 13 years old, living in Virginia, and in 8th grade. The day the Challenger blew up, I was home from school because we'd had a snow/ice storm.

When Columbia blew up, I was 30 years old and living in Virginia. As I recall, we had a lot of snow and ice that day, too.

I was at a friend's house, we saw it on the TV news. I felt gutted for them and their families.

At that time I was working on archaeological digs and also writing for some alternative magazines, starting out in my career in journalism. My life was a different country, then, it seems to me...

would be able to furnish you with details.

Sandie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> would be able to furnish you with details.


Yeah, JFK was bigger. I an remember what I was wearing and what I had for lunch along with a bunch of other silly facts that really don't matter.

I think if you were alive for JFK it might not have made as big an impression--but for many 'information age' folks it was a defining moment, I think.

Also, I think the 9/11 attack overwhelms it for many people.

But once you start with 'where were you . . .' the feelings do come flooding back, even if other events were more personal or more devastating in scope.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2011 09:42PM by nwmcare.

nwmcare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think if you were alive for JFK it might not
> have made as big an impression--but for many
> 'information age' folks it was a defining moment,
> I think.
>
> Also, I think the 9/11 attack overwhelms it for
> many people.
>
> But once you start with 'where were you . . .' the
> feelings do come flooding back, even if other
> events were more personal or more devastating in
> scope.

Neither Challenger of 9/11 upset me as much as JFK, but then I felt sort of like I knew the Kennedy's and the astronauts and the people who died in the attacks were strangers. Of course, they are things I'll never forget. I just didn't get as involved as I did with the Kennedy assassination

Definitely the JFK assassination was a bigger event even than Challenger. We were glued to the TV for days and days. I am so glad that JFK was liked by Repubs and Dems and women and men and people of all religions. Wish it could be like that now. Fat chance. Our country was horrified by his assassination.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2011 09:56PM by honestone.

I was pregnant with my second child, teaching half time. My husband picked me up from work to go to lunch, and at the table, he told me about it. I was quite emotional upon hearing the news, first and foremost because it was sad, but I'm sure pregnancy made me extra weepy to boot. And maybe as a teacher myself, I was identifying with Christa McAuliffe. Shocking and sad in any case.
That news was compounded by a tragic passenger train crash that happened minutes from my house a week later - 23 people were killed in that. I had heard the train pass not long before. That was a tough couple of weeks.

The news (about the Challenger) came over the radio as I was driving to class at the junior college I attended. Was a sociology class. Our instructor was so broken up, he couldn't teach, which was just as well, since we students were so broken up we couldn't listen anyway.

Harder still was explaining death to my 6-year-old, who'd heard the sad news in school and wanted to know WHY.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2011 09:45PM by Sorcha.

I was in the 4th grade, and saw the launch as it happened in school. My brother also watched it in his 1st grade class, and it happened to be his birthday as well. I didn't grow up in Utah, so I never heard about the Hoffman murders until I found this site.

I was in Provo, and while I was out when it happened, when I got back to my apt in Cinnamon Tree we were glued to the tv in shock.

Very sad, will never forget that image....among others

I was at Langley AFB in VA and when I came home from an errand I looked at the TV. A repairman was there with my spouse and they were just shocked.No one said a word or moved for like 15 min. I still remember the coverage like it was yesterday. My kids were only toddlers so i didn't have to explain much at all to them. Thank goodness. Such a sad, sad day.

honestone, I was born when my dad was stationed at Langley and we were living in Gloucester when he retired. You and I were about an hour away by car that day.

25 years ago I had an 18 year old son, 16 year old daughter and a 7 year old daughter..............

I remember being soooo sad and actually kind of mad.
I kept thinking that it should not have happened.
And wondering what went wrong.

K



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2011 10:27PM by AnonyMs.

unborn in the preexistence with all my mormon friends. living alongside eloheim.

I was a student at the Y, and it was a tumultuous time for me personally. I actually withdrew shortly thereafter and eventually enrolled at a legitimate university. I recall many discussions about the O-ring, which was manufactured somewhere in Utah at the time.

Glad2B Out