These people became heroes to me as a young kid in their passing. They were willing to push to expand the edges of human knowledge, and tragically lost their lives in pursuit of that goal. The Challenger disaster 30 years ago cemented an important aspect of my personality. With some negative personal experiences and the still looming threat of nuclear destruction from the U.S.S.R., it all helped to plant the seed of my peaceful, and knowledge seeking ways. Ever since January 28th, 1986, I've looked up to space for inspiration due to the brave sacrifice these astronauts ended up making.

How did Challenger, Apollo 1, or Columbia impact you?

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/DOR2016/index.html

The Challenger disaster was one of those days I'll never forget. Everyone stopped work and ran to a TV. We were all stunned. While 911 was a much greater loss of life it stands out in my memory just as clearly and vividly with a similar reaction.

On the upside of the NASA programs, and something I remember vividly as well was sitting in front of our black and white TV watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. I was very young but knew this was a day that did not compare to any that had EVER come before. I've never forget my mom trying to take a picture of the TV with a Polaroid camera and a flash. I was like "come on mom, really?"

I saw the Challenger at an electronics store - on 40 screens. It's still seared in my brain that way...

As for Armstrong - I was young, too. As I recall (I was 6) we watched the landing in the afternoon, and my parents woke me to see the first steps. No Polaroids, though, with or without flash.

-jk

I didn't exist for the first moon landing

I only barely existed for the Challenger (I was five). What I do remember about the space program was that all through elementary school everything would stop - school-wide - for a shuttle launch. TVs would be rolled into classrooms and everyone would watch the launches. I don't know if it was just this emphasis on the events that I was getting from my school, but I felt like in the late 80's the shuttle launches were still big, talked-about events that people cared about. Sadly I think people became less and less impressed with the idea, and eventually I wouldn't hear about a shuttle launch for days.

I was in high school for the first shuttle launch. Our physics teacher let us stay in his class all day watching it.

For anyone growing up in the Apollo era, shuttles were awesome!

Shuttle trips were a really big deal for years - then we all got used to 'em. Until one failed. They we payed attention again, for a while, anyway.

Hubble was cool, too!

-jk

I was five when the first men on the moon landed and still remember it well, watching it live from Aberdeen where we were on holiday, on a tiny 12 inch black and white TV with my parents and half a dozen other people. I've been fascinated by space exploration ever since. Later, I saw the first shuttle launch on TV and it brought back those days. Then the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Not the sort of thing you ever forget.

Some very brave people were lost on those occasions. At least partially due to the management not taking things seriously when they should have listened to the engineers. The Challenger disaster was entirely avoidable. Columbia, not quite as clear cut, but even so some major mistakes were made and people paid for it with their lives.

pca

Two of the engineers that tried to stop the launch came forward for the 30th to tie their name to the warnings. Really a shame the toll it's taken on Bob.

Overall the Challenger disaster seemed to have shaped NASA for the better.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...-blames-himself

I remember seeing the Challenger disaster on TV in school, but it's barely a hazy memory. I remember exactly where I was when I heard about Columbia. I'd just pulled into a parking space on the top of that parking garage, and sat there, stunned, for ~10 minutes just listening to the news.

We were in the library at school and the Principal wheeled out a TV so my class could watch the Challenger launch (6th grade I think). We were stunned and just watched TV until I had to go to my music lesson. During that lesson, the Principal announced it over the loudspeakers. That evening, my parents watched the news from the time they got home until the time they went to bed, and that image was repeated thousands of time.

Columbia, I was on the computer and had a feeling I should watch the landing. So I went out to the living room and turned the TV on to watch the landing.

I was in junior high school at the time. My science teacher was actually an alternate to Christie McAuliffe, and our science classroom was plastered with posters for Morton Thiokol and other such companies. She walked into the room, at one point, shaken, to give us the news.