Man, 30-years sure does fly by. I was in the fourth grade and the school didn’t inform the students. That couldn’t happen in today’s world. I walked home from school and the first thing my mom told me was about the space shuttle explosion, and it was so unbelievable to me, I thought she was confusing things. The next morning at school our teacher had a very intimate talk to us which I can still remember, she was extremely compassionate yet didn’t beat around the bush.
Reagan was supposed to deliver the State of the Union that night but instead delivered an exceptional speech to the nation from the Oval Office. It was like a grandfather pulling up a chair and saying, “Let’s have a chat.” The “Great Communicator” was at his best when the nation needed it the most. Peggy Noonan wrote that speech, and it was a brilliant move to pull from the poem “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., ending with, “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’“
Regarding if the crew was alive after the explosion – The cabin hit the surface 2 minutes and 45 seconds after breakup, and all investigations indicate the crew was still alive until then. What’s less clear is whether they were conscious. The cabin hit the water at a speed greater than 200 mph, resulting in a force of about 200 G’s — crushing the structure and destroying everything inside.
At least some of the crew were likely alive and at least briefly conscious after the breakup, as the four recovered Personal Egress Air Packs (PEAPs) on the flight deck were found to have been activated. Investigators found their remaining unused air supply consistent with the expected consumption during the 2 minute 45 second post-breakup trajectory.
While analyzing the wreckage, investigators discovered that several electrical system switches on Pilot Mike Smith’s right-hand panel had been moved from their usual launch positions. Fellow astronaut Richard Mullane wrote, “These switches were protected with lever locks that required them to be pulled outward against a spring force before they could be moved to a new position.” Later tests established that neither force of the explosion nor the impact with the ocean could have moved them, indicating that Smith made the switch changes, presumably in a futile attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the orbiter.
A 1986 article about recovering the remains of the crew – The remains of the astronauts were all within the rubble, Stock said. Out of deference to the families of the astronauts, the divers would not provide a detailed description of the condition of the remains, which had been in the water for more than a month. The bodies of the seven astronauts aboard were entangled in the wreckage and were not recognizable, divers said.
Her husband Steven J. McAuliffe remarried and in 1992 became a federal judge, serving with the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire in Concord. Her son, Scott, completed graduate studies in marine biology, and her daughter, Caroline, went on to pursue the same career as her mother: teaching.
Brush then floss, or floss, then brush? My dentist says the former because brushing can push stuff back into the spaces between your teeth.
The 40 ZIPs in Texas where the most CHL holders live – In total, there are 937,419 active CHL holders in Texas — about 3.6 percent of the state’s population – There’s an interactive map on the link that will help you find where your city ranks and how many have a CHL.
The top five on the list are in the cities of League City (4,822 CHL holders), Cypress, Spring, Burleson, and Katy. Loyal reader Ben and his home of McKinney come in sixth.
WifeGeeding’s home ZIP code (75771, 1,283) outnumbers mine (75067, 762).
Something for those of you that may be fan of ‘The Big Bang Theory’s’ Melissa Raunch (Bernadette) – She and her husband wrote a filthy comedy about a former Olympic gymnast. If crude humor offends you, don’t click the link.
Ladies’ Senate: Only female lawmakers show up in D.C. to run chamber after weekend blizzard – Sen Lisa Murkowski (R) – “As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.” Murkowski noted that she and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was wielding the Senate gavel, hadn’t planned the all-women session. It was, she said, just a coincidence. “Something is genuinely different — and something is genuinely fabulous,” Murkowski said.
This article has an interesting opening line – Police west of Toronto are searching for a pickup truck after witnessing an attempted ATM theft from a strip club that doubles as a church.
Colorado adding ex-Texas Tech QB Davis Webb – I think it’s weird, but perhaps it’s just part of today’s world, for the kid to photoshop himself in action wearing a Colorado uniform and posting it to Twitter.
I agree – quoting High Flight was brilliant, and so immensely moving. I can't hear Reagan reading those words without tearing up.
Not sure what the big deal is with Alabama's practice field for the band – it's just a turf field. The football team probably has 5-6 of them, with another 2-3 indoors. Sure, they painted logos on it, which is unnecessary, but that's not grossly expensive. Maybe as a band dad I'm biased, though.
I'm thinking that Melissa Rauch comedy is going to be a must see. At least, when it comes on HBO.
For a few years now I've suspected that if we had an all-female government this country it would straighten itself out pretty quickly. A lot less posturing by "macho" politicians who refuse to compromise. We would certainly be much more circumspect about needing to introduce troops into every world crisis.
I know the Challenger disaster is commonly referred to as an "explosion", but it really wasn't. The external fuel tank suffered massive structural failure because of the fuel leak in the booster and the shuttle itself basically tore itself apart because of the insane aerodynamics of the entire stack separating. The fireball of burning fuel looked a lot like an explosion, but was actually a result of the breakup and not the cause of it.
I watched the Challenger explosion happen on TV during school. I don't know, it just never bothered me that much. You accept risks for certain jobs, and they can be really dangerous. That one blew up, and it sucked, but it just wasn't the big tragedy for me that everyone else thinks it was. I certainly don't think that was a "time when we needed it most". More people die every day from gunshots than did on that shuttle. More people are wrongfully convicted every day. Go hungry every day. Die of preventable causes every day. We have a lot more to be worried about than people who knowingly took the risks, as far as our national pride goes.
And I sure hope someone has called the whaaaaambluance for the Division I athlete guy.
I was a freshman in high school, out for the day at an orthodontist appointment in Denton, Tx. I remember the employees there listening to the radio, hearing the announcement, and the utter shock on everyone's faces. I rode back to school listening to WBAP all the way in the car. It had a huge impact on me; All those awesome things our Nation was feeling good about in the 80s would sometimes come at a high price.
The History of manned space exploration is a very dear subject of mine. I love to study it. I loved to as a young child. This moved me then and still does today. I try and post something on Social Media for the Challenger disaster, as well as the Columbia and Apollo I losses. For the Challenger remembrance, I try and always post "High Flight".
If you have ever visited the Kennedy Space Center, please see the Astronaut Memorial. Its very moving.
I was in sixth grade, I heard about it at lunch time from some kids who got to watch the launch live in their class. I didn't really believe them, but a teacher confirmed it to me later in the day.
I agree – quoting High Flight was brilliant, and so immensely moving. I can't hear Reagan reading those words without tearing up.
Not sure what the big deal is with Alabama's practice field for the band – it's just a turf field. The football team probably has 5-6 of them, with another 2-3 indoors. Sure, they painted logos on it, which is unnecessary, but that's not grossly expensive. Maybe as a band dad I'm biased, though.
I'm thinking that Melissa Rauch comedy is going to be a must see. At least, when it comes on HBO.
"Ladies Senate…"
For a few years now I've suspected that if we had an all-female government this country it would straighten itself out pretty quickly. A lot less posturing by "macho" politicians who refuse to compromise. We would certainly be much more circumspect about needing to introduce troops into every world crisis.
I know the Challenger disaster is commonly referred to as an "explosion", but it really wasn't. The external fuel tank suffered massive structural failure because of the fuel leak in the booster and the shuttle itself basically tore itself apart because of the insane aerodynamics of the entire stack separating. The fireball of burning fuel looked a lot like an explosion, but was actually a result of the breakup and not the cause of it.
Davis Webb was my teams ball boy when I was in high school at Colleyville. His dad was our DL coach.
I watched the Challenger explosion happen on TV during school. I don't know, it just never bothered me that much. You accept risks for certain jobs, and they can be really dangerous. That one blew up, and it sucked, but it just wasn't the big tragedy for me that everyone else thinks it was. I certainly don't think that was a "time when we needed it most". More people die every day from gunshots than did on that shuttle. More people are wrongfully convicted every day. Go hungry every day. Die of preventable causes every day. We have a lot more to be worried about than people who knowingly took the risks, as far as our national pride goes.
And I sure hope someone has called the whaaaaambluance for the Division I athlete guy.
I was a freshman in high school, out for the day at an orthodontist appointment in Denton, Tx. I remember the employees there listening to the radio, hearing the announcement, and the utter shock on everyone's faces. I rode back to school listening to WBAP all the way in the car. It had a huge impact on me; All those awesome things our Nation was feeling good about in the 80s would sometimes come at a high price.
The History of manned space exploration is a very dear subject of mine. I love to study it. I loved to as a young child. This moved me then and still does today. I try and post something on Social Media for the Challenger disaster, as well as the Columbia and Apollo I losses. For the Challenger remembrance, I try and always post "High Flight".
If you have ever visited the Kennedy Space Center, please see the Astronaut Memorial. Its very moving.
I was in sixth grade, I heard about it at lunch time from some kids who got to watch the launch live in their class. I didn't really believe them, but a teacher confirmed it to me later in the day.