This wasn’t just me, right?
Posted by AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 492 comments
Posted by AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 492 comments
Interesting_Tea_6734@reddit
Nope. And going to feel the same way when they are landing. RIP Columbia crew.
RanklesTheOtter@reddit
Definitely. Both of Challenger and Columbia traumatized us.
Jupitersd2017@reddit
The hype around this launch was similar to both and it for sure made me nervous
Beh0420mn@reddit
The teacher launch was ridiculous, I was really young but remember every class at school was focused on it all tv shows (especially kids show) all had to do with it, they built it up so much, we never watched launches live at school before that or after that
Jupitersd2017@reddit
Haha well of course not after that, an entire generation watched people blow up live on tv at school 😂. NASA was trying to get people excited about the space program again and introduce a new generation to the space program, it was a great idea in theory. But when something is that dangerous I feel like having everyone watching especially a bunch of kids is never a good idea.
Mistake_South@reddit
I want to point out that I believe that was the same era when we stopped watching the faces of death movies to traumatize kids about driving… And those SexEd videos showing the miracle of birth and how women got pregnant…
I seem to remember all of those stopping roughly at the same time as that Challenger explosion
christoclear67@reddit
I had sex ed in middle school (1993) and definitely remember watching those videos, particularly of the lady giving birth. I also remember watching Red Asphalt in drivers ed in my sophomore year (1996) A few images have been seared into my brain since then.
WingShooter_28ga@reddit
Even worse when you realize they didn’t blow up…
TakeMeBackToSanFran@reddit
... What... Did they do?
WingShooter_28ga@reddit
Evidence strongly suggests they survived the failure of the fuel tanks. This means they would have most likely been alive until impact. Time from explosion to impact was nearly 3 minutes.
Rdubya291@reddit
I thought I remember seeing they had most likely passed out from g-force prior to impact. Though they did make it through the initial explosion.
Good thing the current system has an abort tower that can jettison the astronauts out if there's a similar catastrophic failure now. It's no guarantee, but it's more than the shuttle crews had.
WingShooter_28ga@reddit
It would be unlikely the force of the explosion would have caused unconsciousness. The capsule was intact and they were suited. Several of the life support systems were manually turned on (done by the person sitting behind the pilots)
Rdubya291@reddit
I was talking about the capsule spiraling back to Earth... During that decent, it's theorized that most (if not all) lost consciousness. If not, they did the second they impacted the water.
Schedonnardus@reddit
Backup air flow was activated for the front row seats. The valves atlre only accessible from the second row, so someone turned then on after the explosion.
Jupitersd2017@reddit
Yeah I wasn’t aware of that until I was an adult thankfully lol
-Odi-Et-Amo-@reddit
Exactly. And that was the whole point. It was part of the Teacher In Space Program in hopes to increase kid’s interest in science and space. Christa McAuliffe was the first participant so it was a pretty big deal in the classrooms. Reason you never saw it after is because there was never another launch for the program after.
bendecco08@reddit
it was supposed to be big bird prior to her. I just remember you had to be in excellent health and pass the extreme tests and be a mason of course.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I think people don’t realize it was almost big bird. That would’ve been so much worse
bendecco08@reddit
The conspiracy is that all those “astro-nots” were not in the shuttle and they lived on. Kinda like the movie Capricorn One which makes so much more sense than pretending to go to space.
Boring_Blood4603@reddit
We were so excited for that launch. Judith Resnick went to Akron Public Schools too. The city named the elementary school she went to after her.
RogueFox76@reddit
Exactly and that’s why it’s stuck with so many people. It was big thing that was built up over weeks so everyone was so excited to watch it and then it exploded
Juliet_1982@reddit
My kids wanted to watch live and my husband and I both looked at eachother and were like “we can see the videos afterwards”. We just have no faith.
Jupitersd2017@reddit
Oh no, haha my husband and I both would have said the same, haha let’s watch it later, we are all traumatized
ComprehensiveStuff72@reddit
Def. Watched it go up and it got to that same point in the sky that Columbia did and I held my breath.
feiticeirarose@reddit
Ughhhhh. I watched Columbia explode from my backyard as a kid. It was fucking surreal.
Dude_man79@reddit
Columbia was especially bad because of the...debris that fell after the breakup.
_game_over_man_@reddit
I’ve gotten the opportunity to see all the debris at NASA and it’s crazy no one was injured from it falling.
Dude_man79@reddit
I heard there were body parts that fell too. See any of that?
The_Mellow_Tiger@reddit
No but some neighbors of ours found some. There really wasn't much left of them, most they could identify found on their land was a piece of a jawbone.
feiticeirarose@reddit
No, fortunately I did not.
Seanconw1@reddit
Some of them are still alive
PopularSet4776@reddit
I was I college when Columbia happened. Most people around me seemed to barely notice.
_game_over_man_@reddit
Now imagine if you worked thermal protection systems on a modern day shuttle that’s suppose to launch in the next year.
Wish me luck. 🤞🏻
Wishnik6502@reddit
I've not watched a launch or landing since Columbia. I'm often a cold, cynical bitch but my heart just couldn't handle watching that unfold again.
Kellzy1212@reddit
Watched one live from the coast of Florida as a small kid and listened to the other being broadcast on the radio. 😢
factoid_@reddit
The shuttle really was a death trap. We should have lost 4 of them but got lucky a couple times
MyNameCannotBeSpoken@reddit
One of the most dangerous machines ever designed
The death rate for astronauts on space shuttle missions is approximately 4%, with 14 fatalities occurring during two shuttle missions. Overall, as of 2026, there have been 19 deaths among the 676 people who have flown into space, resulting in a fatality rate of about 2.8%.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
It’s like place crashes - were so much more aware of them even though more people die in car crashes.
But i mean a core memory is sitting in class and everyone went silent as my teacher rushed to turn the tv off
redrosebeetle@reddit
Hello, neighbor
rockl0ckster@reddit
I watched the launch with my 6 year old and prayed it went smoothly. Can’t imagine if it had failed the kind of heartbreak it’d given her like it did for us
InMyStupidOpinion@reddit
This is why I didn't watch it live
FrighteningJibber@reddit
And they knew well before they came back what was going to happen…
Laserablatin@reddit
Yeah, Columbia was more traumatic as I was so young for challenger.
callsignmario@reddit
Was aircrew on night flight in Asia. I remember this odd color object / glow in the distant night sky. Our pilots said it was the shuttle on reenttry. After the fact, it was pretty tough to think about we probably saw some of their last moments.
realboabab@reddit
It's the only Saturday morning winter track meet I remember; in the car on the way and suddenly I'm wide awake. I don't remember what I heard, I just remember looking out the window (from the East coast.. i wouldn't have seen it..) and wondering if anyone could have survived.
AlsorinBlue@reddit
Tough to know and acknowledge. It is the risk of space though. Never ever want to happen.
HeightExtra320@reddit
CapableNeat4351@reddit
I just turned 29 so I technically fit into both Gen Z and millennial by 1 year, and I’ve never seen a rocket launch live before. I can tell you that I will feel that way every single time I see a giant piece of metal carrying people with rockets more powerful than God strapped to it shoot into the air
Veganarchyst@reddit
Scarred for life
randomUserAction@reddit
Do you remember space camp? The robot created a disaster to launch kids to space. What happened to the first law of robotics?
CharlieMoonMan@reddit
For me this is the true dividing line between Gen-X and Millenial. If you remember the Challenger crash.
Placing it firmly in the middle this sub.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Huh. I never thought of it that way, but yeah wouldn’t millennials be too young to have been traumatized in school by watching it
Ballmaster9002@reddit
My wife and I are 7 years apart and this is probably the biggest tell of our age gap. She was in school rooting for the teacher and I was still eating cheerios and shitting my pants. (Im older though)
ponchoacademy@reddit
Huh, just realized this. I'm a baby GenXer so was thinking they're right behind and would, but just looked up the dates and yeah, the oldest millennial would've been at most 5. I was in 4th grade and could barely comprehend what I was seeing as it was happening.
Like I knew what happened, my brain just seized up. Kinda like in crime shows when people always say they thought a random mannequin was laying on the side of the road... You know full well what you're looking at but the brain is like nope nah eff this I'm out. I can't imagine a 4 or 5yo being able to understand and be affected by it generally speaking.
Like I'm sure AF I would've remembered Mt St Helen in WA erupting it was national and intl news for several weeks leading up to the big moment... It sent ash across half the country clear to Oklahoma and killed over 50 people. Just spent a couple weeks camping around there visiting the centers, learning the history of it all watching news reports at the time etc, and I had zero recollection or memory of any of it even though for sure everyone was talking about it. Before I went there, you could've told me it happened in 1932 and I would've been like, okay sure that sounds legit lol
Gina_the_Alien@reddit
I was 5. I remember seeing it because they interrupted the TV show I was watching (I don’t know if this is accurate but I think I was watching PBS - maybe Sesame Street) and I was laying on my stomach on the floor facing the TV with a square pillow under my chest. The full extent of what happened of course didn’t really hit me but I knew it was a bad thing. The memory is pretty melancholy because although I don’t remember being sad, I remember feeling bad in a pretty specific way about it.
ponchoacademy@reddit
I kinda think that's the big difference... Just like how I know it was months of talk of Mt St Helen cause they knew a long time before it blew and there was constant reports on its progress, interviews with scientists and local people...many who died, and then the complete deveststion, recovery and rebuild efforts afterwards. The people impacted were emotionally invested and affected, yet any awareness I had at 5 was at most just one moment of oh no adults are freaking out, something bad happened, and at least for me, completely forgotten with no impact.
Same thing, the Challenger wasn't a one moment thing that interrupted our day, it was THE moment we'd been anticipating. It was months of lead up with weeks of building anticipation. This time I was emotionally invested, learning all about the lives of those going into space, watching interviews etc etc so anyone with any awareness knew their names, how they were chosen, we all had our favorite astronaut on there...we felt like we knew them personally. It was a huge ongoing deal at other schools nationwide with the whole space exploration thing, there were essays and presentations, I was in school in FL so a guy from Cape Canaveral even came to talk to us. Kids across America were beyond hyped up for it. A lot of brains broke that day.
Interestingly, even though I did see the second plane hit live on 9/11 (I woke up cause my bf had CNN on and was screaming OMG when the news broke about the first hit) the impact wasn't as traumatic. My own kid was about to turn 5, he woke up too... not sure what he saw only asked what's wrong, and we were sitting there stunned not even sure what to say, he decided it was a good time to ask if he can have cereal 😂 He has zero memory of any of it.
I think it hit different being an emotionally mature adult vs being a kid old enough to comprehend but not yet emotionally equipped to handle that kind of thing. I can imagine the kids and teens who experienced the build up of Mt St Helen blowing being in that position and it being a defining traumatic event during their emotional development in the same way Challenger was for kids and teens, the same way 9/11 wasn't just a moment but a whole era that affected the kids and teens old enough to understand what was going on and trying to deal with it too.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Don’t forget watching the Berlin Wall fall. I remember everyone celebrating that day
ponchoacademy@reddit
Absolutely! I feel like Gorbachev and his birthmark were a huge part of my childhood 😂 Definitely the first political leader that was not a US president that I was very aware of and familiar with.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I still picture him when i think of Russia 😂
(Yes I’m well aware he hasn’t been the leader in forever - brains are weird)
crazycatlady331@reddit
I was in K and didn't watch it.
ponchoacademy@reddit
Yup that makes sense to me. I really can't imagine anyone in K/1st grade would've been exposed to it or it be any part of school curriculum to be taught about it to make sense they'd watch it in class the way it was for older kids.
I can see kids who were too young to start school possibly having seen it if someone at home was watching, but way too young for it to mean anything to them.
leiaflatt@reddit
I can’t speak to others experiences obviously, but I was in first grade in a small religious school: the whole school was small enough to fit into our atrium, and we all gathered to watch it. Then I went home to my mother (a former teacher, only 10 days postpartum) weeping for days as she watched the news and nursed my newborn sibling. I was young but definitely not insulated from any of it.
ponchoacademy@reddit
Awe man yeah true I can understand a small school gathering all the kids to watch, Im sure seeing your mom affected really just seared it all in too.
I really dont think kids were insulated from watching it though, esp considering no one knew what was going to happen to protect them from seeing it. Just that like I was describing, spending several weeks learning about it, getting to know who all the astronauts were, doing reports on it etc in the anticipation in the lead up to it is way more likely to be part of the standard school curriculum and the emotional connection with older kids, while it was more likely to be just a moment in time if they were able to see it, without the full context and understanding of what's going on with younger kids.
For sure there will def be outliers with younger kids having learned about it in the same way, just that its not the same defining shared trauma type thing. And thats not a slight I promise! Thats why I pointed out Mt St Helen, I have zero doubt there are some people my age do have memories of it, but I can genuinely say its not a shared core memory that the majority of us that young when it happened have a shared emotional connection to.
My own kid has no memory of 9/11 even though he happened to be there to see it, for kids just a couple years older, it definitely is shared trauma. But he was more freaked out cause my bf and I were freaking out...and then he wanted breakfast lol But the Iraq War, he was old enough to follow the news and understand everything happening to be properly freaked out by it, and for pretty much everyone in his gen, that was their first defining traumatic world event, that unf went on for so long kids his age grew up with it, and went on to die it in.
We've all lived in crazy, crazy times..theres really no shortage of historical shared core traumas, plenty to go around 😭
crazycatlady331@reddit
Also my school was half day and we let out at noon.
Not sure if the older grades watched it or not. My cousin, 3 years older than me, vividly remembers it.
ponchoacademy@reddit
Yeah all I remember from K is Reading Little Golden books, having my little cubby to put my stuff in, and my fav class "subject" ever, Show and Tell lol
Amazing how fast kids develop cause only a few grades up were so vastly different. Your cousin was only a grade below me and I can totally see 3rd graders learning all about the Challenger and watching it in class too.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Childhood development stages go wildly fast
KW5625@reddit
Half of Xennials would have been too young too.
rebelangel@reddit
Yeah I think if you were born in 1981 or later, you weren’t in school yet, so you wouldn’t remember it.
PeggyOlson225@reddit
Yep- I was 3. So, not quite old enough to remember.
Large-Inspection-487@reddit
Yep…wasn’t in school yet. My brother (‘78) has a vivid memory of watching it in school tho.
pianotherms@reddit
Yep, no way I was watching it. I still have dreams about the Challenger, from both the spectator and astronaut perspectives.
gidget_81@reddit
I agree with both points. I was too young to see Challenger live, and 09/11 happened when I was a freshman in college.
Jaralith@reddit
It's my earliest memory. I didn't know what it was about until later; I just remember my parents being very upset about strange clouds on TV.
eh-guy@reddit
Most millennials were born after Challenger
drainbamage1011@reddit
I was alive but not in school yet. Even so, I've seen the video and got real uneasy when they showed Artemis from the same camera angle.
Savingskitty@reddit
My family happened to have been making a cross-country move at the time, so my whole family watched it in a hotel room.
My sister was old enough to have watched it in school, I was 4. I remember it, but of course not the way she does.
ghoulthebraineater@reddit
Me and my brother are on either sides of that divide. I was in 1st grade and watched it. He was 4 and doesn't remember it.
Dio-lated1@reddit
Agree. Millennials dont remember watching a space shuttle blow up on live tv on the tv cart, and then going back to class.
rebelangel@reddit
I was 5 and not yet in kindergarten when Challenger happened so I don’t remember it. I don’t think I really paid attention to the news until around when the Soviet Union collapsed, and I remember picturing the country on the map collapsing downward. I vaguely remember the Berlin Wall because I remember my dad trying to explain it to me.
MindfulMocktail@reddit
Yep, as a 1982 millennial I don't remember the explosion at all
Available_Ad_4030@reddit
I don’t remember it happening live but knowing it can happen still makes me not want to watch them.
The live event we watched in school that I remember the most clearly was the OJ Simpson verdict. I was in college for 9/11 so I watched that in my dorm.
Inarus899@reddit
85 here and same. I tell my offspring this as well, generations are defined by tragedies. Challenger separates gen-x from gen-y. 9/11 separates gen-y from gen-z. Covid will be the difference between gen-z and gen-α. I have a guess as to what will be the line for gen-β, but we don't know the future.
gidget_81@reddit
I want to know what you think the line will be for them??
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
The US dissolving?
Inarus899@reddit
oh, this is totally my 'no logic, all superstition' part of thinking, but sometimes it feels like the future is predicted before it happens if you can notice it, basically hindsight is 20/20 kinda logic. So I go forward and think what huge, tragic thing could happen to the US that would also have an impact large enough to be noticed by the world. Doubt an invasion, and a new disease can't really be predicted, but we've had war, technological failings, and disease in the recent divides, so maybe a notable shake up in the political world? The fact I can't even say exacts due to fear of legal repercussions makes it feel more inevitable, but I do want to go on record in saying that sudden changes to the leadership of any country is tragic on some level. Peaceful transfer of power is always preferred, even if that means suffering for 3 more years.
crazycatlady331@reddit
This.
I see this similar to 9/11 as the younger millennial/gen z dividing line.
GYPZE@reddit
Our teacher wheeled in the TV cart in 4th/5th grade to watch 9/11 live. My mom pulled me out of school because she was worried they'd attack a rural town of ~1000 people next? I got to go home and play with tinker toys so I had a good time
wasabiburning@reddit
I was in pre-school, and while I do remember the time before and after, I don't think they showed it in class which is why I don't remember Challenger. I don't recall there being a TV at all.
Larry-Man@reddit
I remember the Colombia crash. So I will be holding my breath for re-entry.
figgypie@reddit
I wasn't quite born yet to see Challenger live, but I saw Columbia. I was clenched the entire time for this launch.
KW5625@reddit
Can't be as most people born after mid 1980 were too young to have watched it in school... that's nearly half of out age range.
76 - Yes \~9-10
77 - Yes \~8-9
78 - Yes \~7-8
79 - Likely \~6-7
80 - Maybe \~5-6
81 - Maybe \~4-5
82 - Not likely \~3-4
83 - No \~2-3
84 - No \~1-2
bikeonychus@reddit
I was alive, but way too young to see it live, thankfully.
But, I am familiar enough with it, that I can't watch live shuttle launches (and generally do not get excited about them, despite enjoying space-related news), and I didn't show it to my kid until later that day when we knew everything was ok.
TurkeyMalicious@reddit
Wow, this hit a part of my brain that hasn't been used in a while. Oof.
Logical-Cherry9395@reddit
I looked at my son and said, "Every time I watch a launch, I think about 3rd grade when the Challenger exploded. We were watching it in class because there was a teacher on the flight."
NimRodelle@reddit
I pucker every time there's a launch.
calebm97@reddit
Gen z here, It was nerve wrecking. still is actually.
KatyLouStu@reddit
I am SO glad the launch went well. I was in 3rd grade for the challenger disaster and watched it live in my school cafeteria.
I literally could not watch the Artemis launch live.
"Up for debate is how well NASA’s Artemis mission managers understand the problem and exactly how much risk the suboptimal heat shield poses to the four astronauts..."
Looks like I won't be watching the return/splashdown live, either.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/science/artemis-2-orion-capsule-heat-shield
molniya@reddit
Damn, that’s a great article but it is not confidence-inspiring at all. They spent $20 billion developing this garbage capsule but cut corners on the heat shield of all things to save money by making it easier to install? The savings must have been, what, maybe 0.0005% of the cost overruns?Especially after Columbia, I’d think that would be the last thing NASA would want to let the contractors half-ass.
germansnowman@reddit
As much as I love NASA and space flight, Artemis is one of those projects that are driven by politics. Everyone wants to make sure their state’s industry gets a part of the pie. This usually leads to cost overruns and some strange technical decisions.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
SCIENCE ISN’T POLITICAL
ARGH!
Fragrant_Soup5738@reddit
everything is political. unfortunately.
germansnowman@reddit
It shouldn’t be, I agree.
MyNameCannotBeSpoken@reddit
Same. Was in cafeteria eating breakfast before class.
Steveappl@reddit
Lol right
Kade7596@reddit
Every
single
one
KassyNuzzlesworth@reddit
Chr-88@reddit
people are still shocked by my story about how in grade school they wheeled a tv into the classroom to watch Challenger launch live. which we did, and they are even more amazed how they quietly rolled it back out about ten minutes after the explosion, the teachers having discussed it quietly in the hall and coming up with zero things to say to us about it.
a room full of slightly traumatized kids went back to classwork with zero talk about what just happened to all of us.
Star_Tool@reddit
Nervous excitement.
Surprise_Donut@reddit
can't watch them live anymore
toomanyusesforaname@reddit
Am I the only person who watched the Challenger explosion in real-time and wasn't traumatized? I'm not being an edge lord, but I was barely seven years old and really not equipped to comprehend the significance of the event. If my mom had died, it would have traumatized me, but even then the damage would have come from her enduring absence in my life. Death as a concept is almost too abstract to kids that age. So many people ny age describing what I would essentially characterize as mild PTSD, and I can't relate.
BittenBeads@reddit
A shuttle full of people exploded like an M80 on live tv. It was as traumatic as watching a car or plane explode live on the news. I can't remember if the whole school closed or not, but my 1st-grade class became hysterical and we were sent home.
Maybe it's because my city was an aerospace town as well as a high crime one. Space was culturally important and people were murdered frequently, so death was not some abstract concept, but a real thing that ruined lives.
Did you never burn yourself? Could you not conceive of how it would feel to be on your way to space and then die in an explosion? How much it would hurt to die that way? Both in physical pain and emotional loss? Had you not experienced death at that age? Could you not imagine how it would feel to have someone you loved suffer horribly and then leave you forever? Understanding that there was no peace for them at the end and nothing you ever did would help? That there could never be any help?
Few_Candle9432@reddit
I was traumatized existentially years later when I came to know exactly what I’d seen. I was in first grade and they took us all to one classroom to watch. I remember there was some sort of closed circuit school program and it was all about the teacher. I only remember the room going silent and then the teachers leaving us in the classroom to go figure out what to do.
MilkCartonPhotoBomb@reddit
2nd or 3rd grade here. I remember everyone was confused after it exploded and the teachers quickly rolled the tv cart away and tried to move on as if everything was fine. But also, the days after it being all over the news. After all the build up about a teacher going to space and then everyone died.
I wouldn't say I was traumatized, but I did think about it as I sat with my kids watching Artemis. Luckily we could watch it on youtube later that night knowing it all went well.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I think that’s normal for a lot of younger kids. I was towards the end of grade school So developmentally in a different place and had a pretty good understanding of death at that point
Araghothe1@reddit
I'm just waiting for the day Atlas II gets revealed as a weapons platform. Not saying it is for sure but I have an inkling on it.
777Void777@reddit
Dont know why i got recommended this subreddit. Im early Gen Z and I think alot of us grew up knowing about challenger. Even though I never witnessed it in real time I was still concerned
PlaneGeneral5782@reddit
Yeah I was trying to explain it to my son and I still got choked up.
keetosaurs@reddit
Me too! I was nervous watching for the same reason, but figured it was because I'm an anxious person generally.
I was 10 when the Challenger happened and we luckily didn't see it on TV live at school.
For those who weren't old enough or don't understand why it hit people here so hard: As others here have said, the weeks leading up to it made it worse, especially all the stuff in the Weekly Reader (or some other schoolkids newsletter?) about the teacher, Christa McAuliffe.
I seem to remember a photo of her posing with her young students and a stuffed animal that they gave her to take on board, and we read about her family as well. There was a great feeling of excitement about a "regular person" who was a teacher and a mom going into space. It felt like we had gotten to know her, and were rooting for her and her fellow astronauts.
(Also, I think that - when you're a kid - it often seems like adults know what they are doing, and when something like this happens (and even adults are shocked) you realize that they are helpless too, sometimes, and it shakes your worldview a bit.)
Dr-Richado@reddit
The crazy thing is that the solid rocket boosters are basically the same as the ones from the shuttle program.
thafluu@reddit
Center engines are the shuttle engines, too (RS-25).
LastCallKillIt@reddit
The younger set of us is waiting on re-entry now...
SweetOkashi@reddit
For real. There’s a bit of a disturbing easter egg in Cowboy Bebop (which was made in 1998), that shows a kid living in the year 2071 rehabbing an old space shuttle…it was the Columbia. Gets me every time I do a rewatch.
BittenBeads@reddit
IIRC, that episode was scheduled to air on Cartoon Network the day the Columbia fell apart.
knitreadrepeat@reddit
Nope.
disgirl4eva@reddit
So tense. PTSD.
Optimal-Attitude-191@reddit
Nope. Was praying the whole way up
quietCherub@reddit
Yep, thought it might only be me, but I guess this makes sense!
Distinct-Friend4123@reddit
Never forget Columbia
Cougar_Focus@reddit
human kind should always feel nervous exploring the unknown it's what keeps us pushing
ATheeStallion@reddit
I couldn’t watch it. Also it was not exciting like they are sending people to the moon…again.
RealisticIncident261@reddit
I'm a millennial and the challenger happened like 10 years before I was born so not really relevant for me.
Sugar_Fuelled_God@reddit
Then you're over 10 years out of qualifying time to be a Xennial, sounds like you're in the wrong sub.
RealisticIncident261@reddit
Sorry just saw the "millennial kids" in the post
NotRadTrad05@reddit
My wife teaches pre-k and waited until it was up and safe to show them the launch.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Wish my teacher had done that 😫
OutsideUSA@reddit
We were all just staring at the TV in complete silence. Experience was traumatizing.
blokereport@reddit
You should have watched 9/11 live… this launch was epic
Isit420@reddit
I was in 1st grade and that moment was seared into my memory. My teacher did her best to shield us from the reality of what just happened. Being from Chicago, it was easier to focus on the Bears winning super bowl XX.
legalpretzel@reddit
I was in third grade in a school 25 minutes from where Christa McAuliffe taught. I don’t remember much about 3rd grade but I will never forget watchjng that shuttle launch or my teacher’s reaction when it happened.
BlacktankFrank77@reddit
They named a middle school after her in the John Glenn school district
PlaneRefrigerator684@reddit
My teacher was a friend of hers and bawled her eyes out, in class. Which was very surprising because Sister Asunta had been a very tough lady up until that point...
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Was that the one with the Super Bowl shuffle? (I’m not a football fan, but everyone in Chicago knew that song - hell we had it on tape)
mmm_unprocessed_fish@reddit
Yes! I still know the lyrics.
always_thirsty@reddit
"We"re not here, to start no trouble..."
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
DA FRIDGE!
mmm_unprocessed_fish@reddit
I only recently realized those things were 2 days apart. I was 8 and in second grade, and I remember them both vividly, but not that they occurred so close together.
AbeFromanSassageKing@reddit
I'm a few years older than you, but Chicago too. We were shocked seeing the violence of the explosion and knowing people just died in front of us on a TV in our classroom safe space. Leaned on the Superbowl hype as well, but it lost its strength pretty quick after the Challenger...
AliveInTheFuture@reddit
Did you guys actually understand what had happened? My classmates and I didn’t. It’s not super clear to a kid since the solid rocket boosters are meant to separate. I think we gradually figured it out though, in part due to the teacher’s reaction.
Fight_those_bastards@reddit
I was home, with my grandfather. That’s the day I learned a new word, “fuck.”
My parents were not happy, but they understood why.
MotorCycologist@reddit
My teacher muttered the same thing.
Massive_Bullfrog8663@reddit
Grampy here. I like his style...
TheRiverIsMyHome@reddit
We were outside on the playground to watch it (in Florida). I was in 5th grade.
slash_networkboy@reddit
My teacher started crying.
mander00@reddit
Mine too. We were in second grade at an assembly in the cafeteria to watch it launch. I'll never forget it.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
You could hear a pin drop
ResidentLadder@reddit
Was that even an option then?
Pretend_Variation305@reddit
I remember it but the details are fuzzy. It was almost noon I think and I remember being hungry but learned to not say anything because the first teacher in space was a big deal.
Someone recently said that due to the Mandela effect most people remember seeing it live but were actually watching a recording. I so remember watching it live.
dustydub99@reddit
I live in Daytona at the time; an hour north of Kennedy space center. I saw it live from outside. It’s one of my earliest memories. I was 5 at the time.
CaptGrognards@reddit
Me too
UseDue6373@reddit
Really? I think that experience enthralling
P1xelEnthusiast@reddit
It was a Saturday
Chuckms@reddit
Not a teacher but I was going to 100% watch the launch live with my son and then did a 180 ok let’s wait until we know for sure
LastCallKillIt@reddit
How old old are you people? I remember the LA. Riots, Earthquakes. OKC Bombing, Columbine, WTC Tower 2 live in Broadcast class and served in Iraq 2007-08.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Good for you?
LastCallKillIt@reddit
I just don't understand the people on this place that are somehow traumatized by things that had zero real effect on them in real life that they could actually comprehend at young ages.
Go ahead and downvote I assume it here on Reddit
lopachilla@reddit
It may have had no effect on your day to day life, but people still died. One of them was a teacher, so a lot of kids were drawn to her; it makes sense that even they were affected, especially since a lot of adults would have hyped them up for it. And she was an “ordinary” person going to space, not a trained astronaut.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I’m sorry watching people blow up right in front of me when we had been hyped up for this launch because there was a teacher on it (they even did a whole pr thing with schools) was traumatizing too young me
Like cool you don’t care about other people dying, but some of us have empathy, even for those we don’t know
LastCallKillIt@reddit
I literally cried when the boosters lit and when Artemis II left our atmosphere. It was huge to me knowing and experiencing the history. I just don't buy how many people on this sub act like they are some how traumatized as toddlers from a very non graphic disaster like Challenger. The trauma.came later when you understood, not at the time.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Some of us were older. I guess i posted in the wrong sub, but i was in double digits at the time so it definitely hit different for us then say 1st graders
GrumpyKaeKae@reddit
You didn't. I was worried too watching it.
HansBrickface@reddit
Exactly. Watching the Challenger blow up on live TV certainly sucked, but if everyone who knows someone who died in a car crash refused to get in a car again, the US would cease to function as a nation. You pick yourself up and move on with the lessons you learn…apparently the whole country is doing that without the Xennial generation.
Occams_RZR900@reddit
Some people are just very sensitive to that stuff. I was a cop for over ten years. I’ve seen some horrific shit. Very little stuck with me afterwards. I’m sure serving in Iraq during the peak of GWOT, you saw plenty of horrific shit. I think some of us are the outliers that can see that stuff and stay disconnected from it. Maybe we’re just sociopaths.
lurkslikeamuthafucka@reddit
I've had all sorts of horrific shit happen. It's the events that are unexpected, you feel powerless, and you feel some connection to that fuck you up more often than others.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Seriously i can empathize with anyone, including people i hate. I wish i could Just even it out somehow
Occams_RZR900@reddit
That’s not a bad thing either though.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
It’s sometimes a little too much though. Being able to empathize with folks is good, i agree, but i wish i could cap it sometimes
CriticalChop@reddit
Usually the psychopaths cant turn the empathy back on, so i think youre doing fine. 😅
HansBrickface@reddit
Yeah, seriously. I thought millennials, then Gen Z or whoever were supposed to be the weaklings…I didn’t watch the launch for other reasons but the fact that we are doing this again is bringing to my heart the kind of joy I haven’t felt in decades. The person saying they were traumatized from watching a perfectly successful launch really takes the cake…smdh my head
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
No one’s saying they’re traumatized by this launch - we’re saying that we were worried it would not be successful because of these past failed launches (that some of us watched in school)
CriticalChop@reddit
I would say it is your willpower to do so, while some intend to empathize. Does it keep them up at night? Probably not. ..i could think about it all night.. but sometimes you have to shut it down and appreciate what you have while you got it.
Pheeline@reddit
That's cool.
I still had my heart in my throat watching the launch. I remember watching the Challenger in 1st grade. At the time I didn't totally understand what I saw but I knew it was bad.
It isn't that it haunted me, none of those "haunt" me either-- but it doesn't mean I'm blasé when watching something that I know can be disastrous. I watch, and hope. And when things conclude well I breathe a sigh of relief.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Perfectly stated
DukeMcCloy@reddit
Are you being sarcastic? Or is this some attempt at a flex?
LilPotatoAri@reddit
I refuse to watch launches live cause of this. I feel like I've watched way more people die live on the news than through any other means
Red-is-suspicious@reddit
9/11 never forget
figgypie@reddit
I was in middle school. I got to watch it on TV for most of the day at school, including live footage of people jumping from the towers. You don't forget that shit.
SubstantialBreak3063@reddit
God I remember the jumping people and the people crowding round the windows.
SubstantialBreak3063@reddit
Jesus. It's pretty bad to look back and realise everyone was broadcasting the deaths of 3000 people to everyone everywhere. I sure hope that didn't have a long-term traumatic effect on any of us 😬
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Watching it live in front of you is worse
MyFruitPies@reddit
And a much higher cancer risk
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Yes I’ve been told - my friend sent me things for folks in the area to get restitution i just forgot about it. I was in Chinatown literally next to the bridge they were sending everyone over.
This was what was happening in front of me
Accadius@reddit
My economics teacher turned it on just seconds before the second plane hit.
Red-is-suspicious@reddit
I woke up and got on irc and some folks in my regular channel were chattering about it and I was like “huh the fuck” and they kept typing in caps: GO LOOK AT THE NEWS!!! I was like “might as well see what these bozos are freaking out about,” and sat on couch and turned on tv just in time to see the second plane.
Xiunte@reddit
It was insane and everyone was in shock. I was working night shift at a hotel back then and saw the early news every morning from the lobby TV. We all thought it was a bizzare plane accident until the second one hit. The entire lobby froze and went silent. Evetyone's eyes glued to that TV. I ended up staying almost 2 hours overtime to watch the whole thing unfold. Unpaid, of course. My boss made me clock out when 1st shift got there but I wanted to stay and watch the news with everyone else.
CitizenCue@reddit
Good for her. Just the idea of a teacher wheeling in a TV to show a live broadcast gives me flashbacks.
sanedragon@reddit
This is smart. My teacher chose that, but another teacher at the school didn't, and we all heard the screams. Fun times!
virtualglassblowing@reddit
See if think this is one reason there were a couple cutaways on the live feed. Juuuuuust incase something happened. They've been releasing footage and enthusiasts have as well since the launch. Everyone was mega pissed about the short cuts but I feel like there was a reason for it
timberwolf0122@reddit
Well the kids are never going to learn how to trauma bond that way
bareback_cowboy@reddit
I watched it at my kid's daycare and just before that's exactly what the teacher and I were talking about, just hoping that nothing went wrong.
Armentrout_1979@reddit
Bless your wife! As a Xennial (born ‘79) I was watching the Artemis II launch and had that fear in my gut the whole time. I can’t help it at all.
_MoneyHustard_@reddit
Teaches pre-k at 6:30 PM?
Mephisto40K@reddit
Wrong launch, wrong decade.
_MoneyHustard_@reddit
Which launch are we talking about
Mephisto40K@reddit
Jan 1986: space shuttle Challenger explosion
gayjoystick@reddit
Found the flat Earther that doesn't know about time zones! 😁
_MoneyHustard_@reddit
Even 340 PM is late for pre-k but you weirdos get off on downvoting don’t you. I don’t kink shame though.
gayjoystick@reddit
Found the flat Earther that forgets there's 37 time zones across the world 😎 Aloha! It's all good bro, we're laughing along with you.
time4meatstick@reddit
You see how it doesn’t fly straight up, man? That’s cuz it’ll hit the firmament, man. /s
Starscream147@reddit
Yes, Chef.
RanklesTheOtter@reddit
You married a good woman. 😎
gravely_serious@reddit
To worry because of what happened on a single launch in light of over a hundred other safe launches is foolish. Ditto for those who are worried about re-entry.
Junior-Tourist3480@reddit
Yeah... praying every day for them.
jamezverusaum@reddit
It always makes me nervous to watch those.
Andyman1973@reddit
1986 was a great year I tell ya! Was Army Bratting in West Germany. Saw the Space Shuttle explode on live tv, in school, 6th grade. Then a few months later, Chernobyl cooked off. Fun times Fellow GenXers, fun times indeed.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Did you at least get the good thing in 1989? I can’t imagine how electric Berlin was at that time despite watching it live and celebrating at home
Andyman1973@reddit
Nah, we came back to the States a few weeks before then.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Aw too bad. You only got the horrible parts
Andyman1973@reddit
Yeah, but my German grandmother was as happy as can be!
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I’ll bet!
IDigRollinRockBeer@reddit
What rocket I’m out of the loop
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
The Artemis launched on the 1st & the anxiety inducing launches are Challenger & Columbia
dime5150@reddit
Me too. Right when it was at the same angle with the smoke trail, I get anxious.
Bigchunky_Boy@reddit
I think all Oder generations who have witnessed tragedy crews dead on launch pads have a little PTSD .
VVrayth@reddit
The only thought going through my head as I watched was "Please don't explode, please don't explode..."
superjaded08@reddit
Watched with my kids later after I knew they made it off safe...
insomgt@reddit
I was actually there that day, I was 5 years old. Parts washed up on the beach.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Fuuuck
insomgt@reddit
Yeah its one of my earliest memories, and now I'm friends with someone on the Artemis mission which has been really wild, they have safety systems in top of safety systems
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I do love me some redundancies
insomgt@reddit
Its been pretty wild getting the skinny from the inside. Weirdly not my first rocket scientist friend (I'm from the Cape) but this one is a friend of my girlfriend's here in Ohio, so this one is outside my usual circle, but weirdly squarely centered. Another one of my friends was a propulsionist on the Delta project, and I have one more that I have no clue what he actually does.
EmperorOfEntropy@reddit
I definitely thought it blew up for a moment watching it here in Florida. I saw a bright red flash and then couldn’t spot it anymore. I guess it was just the stage release of the rockets, but I hurried back to the news cast to see if it was okay
CaterpillarAble9787@reddit
I don’t get this one🤔
iLayBackinSalt@reddit
Xennials watching the OJ trial in class 😆😆😆
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Y’all watched that in class? Where? Why?
iLayBackinSalt@reddit
Actually was just the verdict. I don't know if everyone did, but schools in my area and my cousins' schools did (SE PA). Was a really big deal.
Positron14@reddit
We never watched anything like that in school. I'm surprised by how many people, apparently, did. We watched films and videos occasionally. Not live tv.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
This was the only live broadcast i remember watching and it was special - i don’t think we are the only ones. It was a special broadcast to schools because they had an entire curriculum around space based on the teacher going up. She was going to teach us from space so we prepared.
REO_Speed_Dragon@reddit
Kindergarten for Challenger. I loved my teacher and idk which was worse, the explosion or the look on her face.
AlsorinBlue@reddit
Childhood memories. I was barely into my childhood when the Challenger disaster happened, but I was fascinated with astronauts. Made sure to try everything astronaut related on my state museum visit in elementary school. Sadly, I'm terrified of heights so I would have never been able to handle it. Stood in awe as it launched. What man does is simply amazing. Returning to the moon was a dream. Didn't think I'd see that dream return in my lifetime.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Right? It’s so neat
rifunseeker@reddit
I was worried not so much because of Challenger memories but more of “everything else is going wrong in this country so something bad will happen here too feeling”
alysli@reddit
You and I are on the same wavelength. I wasn't worried so much about it exploding, more like, "they don't fund anything good now so something horrifying is about to happen."
writerkaties@reddit
While I was waiting for the launch I did remember the last one that exploded and was anxious about it again. I was also wondering why they bother going to space when they can't even fix everything going on here.
Which_Wrap8263@reddit
Do you think they just load cash on the rocket and then shovel it out into space once they’re in orbit? Every penny spent on space gets spent on Earth. It’s part of fixing everything going on here.
rambo_lincoln_@reddit
For me it was more like “if this doesn’t go well, they’re going to use this as justification to further cut NASAs budgets and eventually strip it down, assimilate it into the Space Force, and then we’ll just be stuck on this planet forever.
Fairisolde@reddit
I had just read that the prez is trying to cripple vote by mail before the midterms and everything else just kind of feels like a distraction
d4_rp@reddit
I was worried due to the bets on polymarket about the mission failing catastrophically, in a world full of horrors I still want to dream of a better future for humanity but the main enemy will always be the pair of greed and stupidity.
Indubitalist@reddit
And it would turn out he insisted that they gold-plate something that melted the moment they hit the upper atmosphere.
DrankTooMuchMead@reddit
Don't astronauts go to space all the time?
Maybe the moon is considered bad luck.
VariationDifferent@reddit
Yeah. I was unconsciously clenching my fists until they broke atmo. Realized it when I relaxed and was like, "Dang, why are my fingers cramping?"
Like, I know there's still stuff that could go wrong — Apollo 13 had their malfunction happen in space — but Challenger... Did damage to my elementary-school psyche that I still carry to this day.
Karadek99@reddit
100% me
Distinct-Reference-3@reddit
I was feeling too.
Majestic-Tiger2742@reddit
Didn't watch or even know it happened until reddit.
Otherwise_Return_185@reddit
Nope. I learned in that 8th grade classroom that while chances may be low, they are never zero
Available_Ad_4030@reddit
Nope. I couldn’t watch it live.
Regular-Table4242@reddit
Watched it live in my classroom in 4th grade, best part was the teacher Mrs Ashman decided to leave the room to take a break and didn’t come back until we watched the replay about 3 times. Thirty 10 yr old kids glued to a 19” tv on a cart in horror for at least a half hour.
hairballcouture@reddit
I held my breath.
Suitable_Database467@reddit
Got to stick the landing before I will unclench
inifinite-breadsticc@reddit
Yeah those heat shields make Me nervous
SovereignWreckage@reddit
Not to worry. The Orion capsule has an ablative heat shield designed to char and erode like Apollo's. Space shuttle's were glued on tiles.
Larry-Man@reddit
Challenger then Colombia. We have two versions of disaster we don’t wanna see repeat.
207247@reddit
Yes I completely agree!
Commercial_Neat_2803@reddit
Oh, that was top of mind while watching the launch.
mdmd123@reddit
They always freak me out now. 💯
lordskulldragon@reddit
I started Kindergarten in Sept 86. I missed it by a few months.
shivaswrath@reddit
I stopped after challenger. I wait to see confirmation....
Emotional_Cause_5031@reddit
I was too young to watch the challenger (born 1982) but when I was in elementary school I watched Punky Brewster on syndication, and their challenger episode really impacted me. (There were several other episodes that I distinctly remember because they were so scary/distressing.)
I did watch this launch live with my kids, and a few seconds after takeoff I had a sudden panic reaction, and was like, “oh wait why am I showing them this?!” Hoping all goes smoothly, you couldn’t pay me enough money to go into space.
scripted_ending@reddit
I was holding my breath, the lump in my throat was getting bigger, and tears welling up in my eyes made it hard to see the tv screen. I texted my daughter, “Are you guys watching the launch?” She sent me a picture of the family sitting in front of the tv. I told her I was glad she shared this great moment in history with her kids. I was alone both times- the first time, I had just gotten home from school, grabbed a snack, and plopped down in front of the tv just in time to see the launch.
armchair_viking@reddit
Not so much. Unlike the shuttle, the Orion has a launch escape tower on top of the capsule. If anything went wrong, it’s designed to rapidly pull the capsule away from the exploding rocket. This can be done on the launchpad or at any point during the solid rocket boosters’ burns, and can either be manually activated or will automatically activate if the rocket is exploding.
If a similar incident to Challenger had occurred, the crew would have been alive, but potentially with some injuries due to the high g-forces the launch escape would have produced.
Here’s a video of them testing it https://youtu.be/azZTXOZZ8BQ
Practical_Brief0@reddit
I was so stressed trying to watch it! I couldn’t believe people brought their children to watch it in person. It was a strange, unexpected ptsd-like experience.
bigfancydelta@reddit
I hold my breath at EVERY launch! Challenger happened 6 months before I started school, but I remember my Dad and grandparents being upset about it. And I was at work, loading my truck when I watched the Columbia Space Shuttle break up. I live in North Texas, the single con trail breaking into multiple ones over our heads is a sight I won't ever forget.
juju0010@reddit
Millennials are too young to remember Challenger
tralathegreat@reddit
OMG I said the same thing! I couldn’t watch it until it was fully up and successful
Osoroshii@reddit
every launch in my head, "please don't blow up, please don't blow up....."
fridayfridayjones@reddit
I put the launch on to watch it live with my daughter and halfway through the countdown I remembered this. I was so relieved when it went well. My daughter absolutely loved seeing it though. She was so excited.
Global-Jury8810@reddit
My mom insisted we were all home that day watching it on TV. Not sure why my elder brother or sister weren’t in school unless we just moved. We did move around a lot in my life.
I have no firsthand memory of any part of this other than when the brother mourned Christa McAuliffe
MenaciaJones@reddit
Was not just you, I watched the Challenger disaster when it was being shown in the tv department when I worked at JC Penney. Will never forget it.
DeityOfYourChoice@reddit
Challenging to watch.
Andyman1973@reddit
I see what you did there.
jjgargantuan7@reddit
I've had this conversation with no less than 5 people at different times. We were all on the same page. Puckered
1ndomitablespirit@reddit
There’s been dozens of launches since Challenger. Why do Xennials want to pretend everything was traumatic? No wonder our kids are emotionally stunted.
Proxima_Centauri_69@reddit
We’re going to the moon?
Chakachavers@reddit
I live in Orlando so we were watching it by the lake in my neighborhood. One of the snowbirds had his son on Facetime and the son (who is between 37-43) said "Well at this least it didn't blow up". I whipped my head around and said loudly enough for his son to ear "Seriously? That's incredibly inappropriate". Even if your e thinking it, don't say it. And especially don't say it here if all places. My boyfriend (born and raised Floridian) was in 2nd grade and was out on the playground and saw it happen live. Some things you just can't forget.
Objective-Dust4795@reddit
I’m more from the reentry nervousness
96385@reddit
I had two different feeds going at the same time, so I noticed the official NASA broadcast was on a time delay. They also cut away from the rocket and did a crowd shot right at booster separation.
Bright_External_4161@reddit
Yeah I was secretly on edge. Please no, please no, please no. I was 6 when it happened so I don’t think I actually experienced the event but backdated it in my mind.
Upstairs-Kale-3794@reddit
I was 6 when I saw Challenger blow up live on TV. Fucked me up for every launch ever.
Sad_Subject_5293@reddit
catalytica@reddit
I was expecting it to blow up. Was totally tensed up. That SLS rocket uses space shuttle engines and hydrogen fuel.
Araz728@reddit
The moment the boosters detached… I had a mini heart attack for a second.
HotMain4595@reddit
I didn't watch it live for this reason. I waited for the replay after I knee the results.
VHS1982@reddit
Always and forever.
9Knuck@reddit
I was more than a little nervous
tiny_chaotic_evil@reddit
(watching it live)
"Challenger, go at throttle up."
(things)
Well...fuck
Matshelge@reddit
As someone who kinda follows space stuff, this one was a surprise for me, mostly because of all the delays and cancelled launches this project has been experiencing.
I only heard about it in retrospective, but yeah, would have had that face watching the launch.
Enlightened_Gardener@reddit
Couldn’t can’t no. Not watching any of it until they’re safely back down again. Thankyou and please no boom for these brave people.
Lesbian_Skeletons@reddit
I feel like I missed out on some generational trauma, I've watched a few shuttle launches and never felt any anxiety or anything. Like, it happened one time, there have been so many launches since then.
brain-foodie@reddit
My phone's stream was a few seconds ahead of the tv my son was watching. I had my finger over the tv remote's power button the entire time.
RanklesTheOtter@reddit
Yeah I was like 😖 until they said it was all good.
Ducking_off@reddit
Just watching with my hands clasped together until SRB separation, then a sigh of relief.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Same. I couldn’t watch. I wanted to, but i couldn’t
OneDay_AtA_Time@reddit
My husband literally kept one hand on the mouse just in case we needed to exit out quickly while we watched with our 2 young kids (while our fingers covered most of our eyes).
BBWDLLUVER@reddit
Don't blow up on live TV
Switchbladekitten@reddit
I had my hand over my mouth the whole time like come on guys you can do it omg please
HardDrizzle@reddit
I told my kids what could happen, just in case
Baggin_clams@reddit
right. I was holding my breath for like 5 minutes
Similar-Art-1265@reddit
I didn’t give a flying fornication about the rocket launch. I didn’t even know it was happening tbh
andante528@reddit
Saw the Challenger explode in person, from my grandparents' yard in Florida, when I was in preschool. I remember the smoke trails hanging in the sky and my grandmother saying "Oh gosh! Oh my gosh!" because she was so Christian, she wouldn't say "Oh my God!" even at that horrible moment.
brandonscript@reddit
Saaame
DangerousPraline41@reddit
I couldn’t watch it live.
CaptGrognards@reddit
My wife was so worried, she kept saying, “God I hope they make it!”
JuggernautKooky4064@reddit
Dude I’m still nervous. I feel a little nuts being so ill at ease about this, but…I don’t know man. Things just keep going to shit. Is now really a good time to risk nothing going wrong on a lunar mission? Our luck just…it seems bad right now. I can’t be the only one. We all saw Apollo 13 in theaters too…
Brokenblacksmith@reddit
Well, the toilet has apparently broken twice so far...
boomkin-burger@reddit
I (millennial) didn't even know this was happening until after it already launched 🤷🏻♀️
Ok-Leader-1824@reddit
All the drone footage is good prep now to stomach the space launch risks I guess.
jjb0ne@reddit
i think about this tragedy during any rocket video. even if its non manned
Bizzy-99@reddit
Yes this certainly was me, had anxiety and leaned on thinking of all my peers. Glad Artemis II crew had a successful launch and here’s to a successful return 🇺🇸 🚀 🌒
Hyperion1144@reddit
It was all of us.
Candid-Stay-2397@reddit
Yep. A little flashback from Challenger for a moment.
Sugar_Fuelled_God@reddit
Then you were born 10 years too early to qualify as a Xennial, you're in the wrong sub.
Ayren24@reddit
Didn't watch it on purpose. Verified after it was safely away that it made it up through the atmosphere.
kartblanch@reddit
The ptsd is real. I couldnt watch…
hmcfuego@reddit
Nope nope nope, I was 7 and living right near the Cape and saw it live in the sky on a field trip at school to get a better viewpoint of it and omg the SCREAMING and CHAOS. Nope, never again.
EconomyCode3628@reddit
Challenger was first grade for me and we had no context or idea what was going on when we were forced to watch it. The vice principal kept trying to get us to remember seeing Sally Ride videos during some space unit the 4th and 5th graders got to do and the teacher kept reminding him we're first graders and did not participate in that. I was genuinely left with the impression NASA was some spooky sky creature that had it out for teachers. The next year in a different teacher's class I got in SO MUCH TROUBLE for genuinely asking how NASA knew which shuttles had teachers so it could blow those ones up.
CaptnLudd@reddit
I was definitely worried it would change the mood of my Passover seder
Ippus_21@reddit
My understanding is that NASA beamed the challenger launch live into a bunch of classrooms via a special broadcast. That must have been pretty traumatic for a lot of kids...
I lived in (a really rural part of) Saskatchewan at the time, so I didn't hear about it until years later.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
They did, it was.
Source - it happened to me as a kid in school
Ippus_21@reddit
Oof.
electriclux@reddit
I almost didn’t let my kid watch it because of this feeling
marshmallowest@reddit
Oh my god yes
Anarchy_Amber@reddit
FRfr
FallenAkriel@reddit
I’m so stress for the Artemis II crew to get back safe, it’s crazy.
Seraph782@reddit
Me and my daughter prayed as the countdown started right before launch that they made it space safely and nothing bad happens on liftoff but I was lowkey traumatized lol
seafox77@reddit
I did not expect to start crying when Artemis hit primary sep and MECO. But I sure as hell did. I was clenched a lot harder than I realized.
Moist-Golf-8339@reddit
My family went to Florida for Christmas break and I got to see Challenger and Columbia on launch pads simultaneously. …just before Challenger’s explosion.
Moist-Golf-8339@reddit
Not gonna lie this was going through my mind the whole time. 🫣
KBO_Winston@reddit
My younger coworker said "This feels like a 'where where you when-' moment." I pointed out I really hoped that wasn't the case.
TrixieBastard@reddit
Yeeeah, I cried when they made it safely into the LEO, both out of relief and awe (and also jealousy because I have always wanted to go to space).
Pinepark@reddit
I live in Florida where I could see the launch (not close up but still within range to see) and I fucking REFUSED. Not going through that shit again. I was 9. I remember vividly.
jasonmoyer@reddit
I kinda got over that in 1988 when they resumed regular shuttle launches again.
Legal_Scientist5509@reddit
Seriously! I was debating whether or not I wanted to have my teen watch it with me because of what happened to us.
Lucid_Phoenixx@reddit
mmm_unprocessed_fish@reddit
I legit said “Hey, it didn’t blow up!” to my Boomer dad.
JerryCat11@reddit
I was worried also
dvdmaven@reddit
The idea that this launch cost over a billion dollars and all of the equipment will be tossed. In other news, SpaceX just launched a Falcon 9 for the 34th time.
4rp70x1n@reddit
I'm like this every time I watch a manned launch.
Unusual-Ferret2479@reddit
That’s why we all watched don’t be obtuse. Just like we watch car chases.
i-hoatzin@reddit
SpliTTMark@reddit
Do 5 year old even know what happening?
My mom didn't watch as she saw challenger(@32) happen live
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I mean some of us were older than that
mnemonikos82@reddit
The oldest millennials were 6, and the vast majority weren't burn, they have no memory of this. This is purely a Gen X experience.
RogueFox76@reddit
Go team?
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
My reaction. Wheeee Lucky is
Much_Usual_3855@reddit
5 since millennials started in 1981.
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
millennials start in '81 now? so someone born in '81 who had their 1st child at 19 they would both be the same generation essentially?! whats the last year to be considered a millennial?
cortesoft@reddit
Generations are completely arbitrary, but the normal range is 20 years. So yes, there has always been the possibility of having kids in the same generation.
Much_Usual_3855@reddit
1996 is the last year for millenials. Anyone born in 2000 would be a zoomer not a millenial.
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
🤯
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Lucky us? 😭
Zestyclose-Season950@reddit
I watched it with my kid and for their sake and my kid’s sake, I was praying nothing happened. Would have traumatized my kid in the middle of a Mexican restaurant
figgypie@reddit
We had the livestream on during the launch so we could watch it as a family, but I had my hand close to my mouse just in case. I'm glad my daughter wasn't traumatized by this launch like we all were back then.
ShakespearianShadows@reddit
PCSB - Post Challenger Stress Disorder
leafs4455@reddit
Grade 8 saw it live..
qwythebroken@reddit
I watched Challenger live on tv, I haven't watched a launch live ever since. With my current take on the world around me, this one would've hit especially hard right now.
Error404LifeNotFound@reddit
Me when the boosters separated: “oh thank fuck”
Separate-Relative-83@reddit
I never watch rocket launches after the one.
AnElectricalMeatbag@reddit
My MIL's uncle was the ME for the challenger aftermath. :(
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Holy shit
AnElectricalMeatbag@reddit
Yeah. A way less fun part of his career with NASA. (He got to be part of ground control for Apollo 13 and also got to go on a mission into outer space himself.)
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Oh wow. That's really cool
Product_ChildDrGrant@reddit
My heart was pumping. So glad it went smoothly. God’s speed Artemis II!
olystretch@reddit
It ain't over till it's over, right Columbia?
Falcifer13@reddit
I was in 8th grade watch it on the 25" TV strapped to the metal cart in History class. Remarkably the TV did not get shut off. We watched the whole thing...
SatisfactionActive86@reddit
Neither the Challenger or Columbia were going to the moon, they have far more in common with the hundreds of launches before Artemis.
writersontop@reddit
I don't let things that happened 40 years ago affect me
PoisonMind@reddit
I didn't see the Challenger disaster, but I did get to see a SpaceX shuttle explode on the launchpad a few years ago.
pimpcoatjones@reddit
THAT'S ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT... I'm also worried about reentry, but that's a few days away
Hugsomebunnies@reddit
Yeah I was definitely 2/3 parts dread and 1/3 part awe watching it. We had watched the prior 4 hours live as well and my 7 year old space enthusiast was very excited. I considered having my kids watch it later instead of live, just in case, but ultimately decided to go with it.
There was a moment when the camera suddenly went out of focus and it looked like Orion exploded for a split second- glanced at my husband and he also had a hand on his chest! Very grateful it was just the camera.
singleguy79@reddit
Honestly wasn't even thinking about it at the time.
Necrotortilla99@reddit
Even astronauts feel anxiety watching.When Artemis was launching there was an astronaut on CNN getting interviewed and she looked like she was getting ready to have a panic attack and hyperventilate.The reporter asked her what was wrong and she said it was one thing being in the shuttle, but watching it launch gave her a bad case of anxiety....she visibly relaxed and let out her breath, when she saw everything went ok
CoercionTictacs@reddit
Yep can still remember seeing Challenger on the TV as an 8yo kid in Australia, still haunting.
Immediate-Truth8317@reddit
As a Gen-Xer, I was barely out of HS for a year when the space shuttle disaster happened. I still remember everyone talking about it and it being on the news nonstop.
Nipplasia2@reddit
I was in 2nd grade when challenger blew up and my teacher was watching it. I was more weirded out that she was crying in the class than the space ship exploding. I was 7, I guess it didn’t really click in my brain.
RollTh3Maps@reddit
There were so many launches between the Challenger and this one. I really don’t get why these memes are suddenly so popular for this one.
willows_edge@reddit
I snickered when NASA panned away from the rocket to show the crowd at the first detachment. Definitely a "let's not do that again" moment.
Lan098@reddit
I am absolutely am convinced that was on purpose
willows_edge@reddit
Oh, me too. Also guessing networks didn't take the same thing into account.
CaptainKaveman@reddit
Go for throttle up 👀
Abeefrog@reddit
I couldn't even watch it.
clevergirl1986@reddit
Yeah my whole life I always heard the story how my mom was laboring with me while watching the Challenger explode (I was born the next day) and I had a really hard time watching it live the other night. Was praying to God I wasn't about to traumatize my children watching next to me...
Captainrexcody@reddit
My class was the only one in the school to not see it. Didn’t know what happened for hours
kozynook@reddit
I watched it with a bunch of much younger co-workers. None of them knew what I was talking about when I brought it up. I even gave them the “She had two blue eyes” joke and it didn’t land at all.
PoolRamen@reddit
I didn't even really think about it.
Since the SLS is actually very (and possibly a bit too much in the '26) Shuttle underneath, it means every element of it has been scrutinised up the wazoo for the last 40 years.
...Probably.
wingthing666@reddit
There were some angles around booster separation that were hella triggering for me even as I knew this one made it just fine.
0peRightBehindYa@reddit
I was clenched pretty tightly until SRB and booster separation, just in case.
Jogger_Dodger@reddit
Yup. Saw one explode when I was 7 years old.
fakeaccount572@reddit
You all do know we've had lots and lots of manned launches since Challenger, yeah?
PMmeHappyStraponPics@reddit
Yeah, but all it takes it's one to blow up for me to worry about it blowing up.
fakeaccount572@reddit
Oh I agree...I worked for NASA for 15 years on the shuttle program at KSC
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
We didn’t all watch them live in school though
HorribleMistake24@reddit
I watched challenger explode from school. Was like a damn that happened moment not a traumatic one. I was 5. This? Was super cool to watch and super glad it didn’t explode…cause that woulda sucked considering how much our country is doing dumb shit lately, a success of any kind is comforting…a little bit.
EvenLettuce6638@reddit
I feel like I must have went to the only school in America were every class wasn't watching the Challenger launch. I do remember that day though, the principal came on the intercom and had us either have a minute of silence or prayer for the crew. And another kid was telling me about how he saw the launch on a tv in the school office.
ShortIrishGuy@reddit
Yeah, my asshole was clenched. I saw Challenger live in school. Our teacher jumped to turn off the screen lol. We all sat quietly.
DippyNikki@reddit
I said to my husband "I'm too anxious. The need for another distracting news headline is just too damn high right now. I don't like that pressure"
NolanSyKinsley@reddit
Nah. I have been following SpaceX launches and NASA launches for a couple decades now, I know they have learned their lessons.
badnewsbroad76@reddit
Millennial kids? Only the ones born in 81' would have been old enough to be in school..🙄 The generation that was most affected by the space shuttle explosion disaster was clearly gen X.
Fckn copycats.
Ok_Degree3037@reddit
I was late 80 and watch this though I imagine it was at home. I don’t recall it exactly but I do recall not wanting to be an astronaut afterward.
badnewsbroad76@reddit
I mean, that makes sense but I can't imagine any millennials younger than you watching it or remembering it..most millennials were way too young or..not even born lol
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
The weird thing? I still wanted to be an astronaut
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
You know there’s also Gen X in this sub, right?
badnewsbroad76@reddit
I was referring to the stupid meme
JourneymanHunt@reddit
I couldn't do it. I just wanted to wait to hear the good news
leseb@reddit
Literally me… not even American….
RainbowSnapdragons@reddit
I was only three so I don’t remember the Challenger, but I DO remember the Punky Brewster episode they made about it. I guess I saw it in reruns when I was a few years older.
Was in college and having a beautiful free morning when Columbia happened. That really hit me hard, I was very upset.
I was telling someone I hope the stupid problem with the toilet is the worst thing that happens for Artemis II.
PoisonIvy724@reddit
I was so nervous 😟 waited to show my son the replay just in case
Izarial@reddit
My wife and I were nervous, our kids were just excited. Totally different energy due to them never seeing a space shuttle explode live on air.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
And i hope they never do!
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
im '79 and have no memory of this whatsoever. what year was it?
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
The challenger explosion? 1986
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
so i would have been 7-8 depending on what month.. things like this make my lack of memories more worrisome every day. username stands another day
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Maybe it’s a good thing? Lord knows i wish it wasn’t seared into my memory
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
not necessarily a bad thing until i take my BPD & DID in to account and the possibilities of what may have occured to create gestures up & down THIS 😂
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I apparently memoryholed the Columbia explosion until someone mentioned it and then i was like oh yeah i remember that! Lolsob
jenesia-CakeEatnNPC-@reddit
At least there was a trigger 🫠
molniya@reddit
Challenger? It was 1986.
DustedGorilla82@reddit
Been a million launches since challenger hate this stupid meme
Aggravating-Body-721@reddit
I stopped watching rocket launches because of that incident. Anxiety is still there & very raw.
u4got2wipe@reddit
I wasn’t able to watch the Artemis launch and I thought “if this motherfucker blows up I’m going to be pissed i didn’t watch it live”
Savingskitty@reddit
Challenger when I was little and Columbia when I was in college.
Then watching Apollo 13 barely make it in the movie as a teenager.
We were primed to see space travel as high probability of failure.
manawydan-fab-llyr@reddit
That's Discovery which saw a well earned retirement.
I get not wanting to show Challenger or Columbia, but at least the image creator could just taken that name out altogether.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Is it in the Smithsonian? I can’t remember. (I know all the early NASA stuff was there)
cindergnelly@reddit
Ya, no. I mean no f-ing way will I ever watch that live again, I also have PTSD over re-entry. Just nope.
Longjumping_Steak689@reddit
I was in Junior High in music class on Januray 28, 1986. Our teacher had gone into the school library next door to see it live on CNN. I'll never forget the look on her face when she came to tell us, she was in tears and could barely get it out. Some days are just burned in your soul forever.
Existing-Device-4164@reddit
No one died in the Apollo launch js
Existing-Device-4164@reddit
Columbia i mean... whatever.... it's all fake
Djentleman5000@reddit
It’s like watching NASCAR.
PinkHush-@reddit
Nope, definitely not just you, our collective chaos is basically a vibe at this point.
ieatsilicagel@reddit
I don't watch.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Smart
Designer-Bid-3155@reddit
Yup. I was at a bar and thought the very same thing, I told my friends I watched the challenger live
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I mentioned it once in a group of mixed age people and holy fuck i had to tell the story since half of them had no idea what i was talking about
ykanteyespelltahco@reddit
Omg totally
RogueFox76@reddit
My spouse was watching live and I was no no nope, I’m not doing this. I don’t know know they can watch, I assume this is another trauma response
TwoMinute920@reddit
Gen x.. I thought it.....
Holmes221bBSt@reddit
Not just you
Vectrolounger@reddit
I think I made this exact face..
Furrymcfurface@reddit
Please don't blow up and at least they have a capsule detachment system.
marysunshine@reddit
Yeah, I really was not excited to watch it.
larryb78@reddit
Not alone, not even close
Adventurous_Sun4373@reddit
I was home sick from school when I watched the charger shuttle explode on TV, as a six year old.
Gibby_Jabby@reddit
There's been over 100 launches since the challenger dumbass, we don't fucking care, that's the point!
Peeping-Tom-Collins@reddit
Yea, I was sitting there thinking "Ho, dont do it... we do NOT need that right now..."
_Xee@reddit
1986 flashbacks.
jackfaire@reddit
My class didn't watch the Challenger launch live so I didn't even know about it until I was much older.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Dang. I thought EVERY class was watching it
jackfaire@reddit
Nope and I'm betting there's a lot of people who didn't that have false memories of doing so.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
I wish my class hadn’t watched. Idk why you’d want that
jackfaire@reddit
It's not about wanting the memory but our minds are weird. At one point I told a story as if it was my own memory cuz I swore it was until a friend pointed out it was from a book we'd read.
Justice_of_Toren1esk@reddit
Every time I've watched one since Columbia.
Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit
I was in 3rd grade in Florida. We went outside to watch the launch. Then all of a sudden they made us go inside. We didn't get to see the accident though. It wasn't high enough to see it from our distance yet luckily.
welldonecow@reddit
I honestly thought the all woman Bezos space flight was gonna blow up. I was like absolutely sure it was doomed and we’d lose Gayle king.
Grouchy_Situation_33@reddit
Yeah, pretty much (x-er)
ComfortableLazy1008@reddit
Every time
this_knee@reddit
I just don’t understand why “everyone” watched this live.
What’s the big deal? We’re sending someone to fly around the moon. We’ve already done that as a humanity, and it’s not like this was this big year long race to launch before some other nation state. Pushing to me.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
But we haven’t done it in ages. Idk i still think Space exploration is cool
Li-RM35M4419@reddit
I’ll be honest. I don’t really care, there’s much bigger shit we need to deal with than space ships to the moon.
barnold911@reddit
I was and a bunch of my coworkers were also
Clean_Usual434@reddit
Nope, not just you. I was kind of holding my breath.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
That’s a little like the picture though
Clean_Usual434@reddit
Definitely
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit (OP)
Oh sorry i read that wrong. 😭
Collective unease around shuttle launches.
ImOnlyHereForTheCoC@reddit
Saw the Challenger disaster unfold through the window of my 1st grade classroom in Brevard County.
KW5625@reddit
It was in the back of my mind
Cristinky420@reddit
I definitely had a sigh of relief when those boosters let go.
FastWalkingShortGuy@reddit
Ngl, I held my breath for a few seconds.
No_Bar2541@reddit
Yes it was definitely just you
officermeowmeow@reddit
I've watched tons of launches and I still feel that way, every single time.
HolidayEggplant81@reddit
OMG yes. Baited breath the entire time. 😬
lazypenguin86@reddit
Yea I didn’t watch live lol
pandeeandi@reddit
So real.
motorcycleboy9000@reddit
Breh
crazycatlady331@reddit
I was in K at the time. I didn't learn about everything until years later.
No-Salt4637@reddit
The Boomers were feeling it, too. My extended family group text was popping off the whole time.
speedfox_uk@reddit
Only 4 onboard. NASA have a nasty habit of losing spacecraft when they have a full crew.
Commies-Fan@reddit
I remember the teachers crying. It had no impact on me as an 7.5 year old though so I never even think about it now other than when people bring it up.
der_innkeeper@reddit
Have to watch.
Be a witness to the risk.
Drucifur88@reddit
😬😱
brattybabyc@reddit
My kids watched it with me (fucking rad!), but I was a little hesitant.
Doodurpoon@reddit
Key_Permission_3351@reddit
You're definitely not alone. It was literally my first thought.
mutedagain@reddit
I was like that but not for the same reasons. I was worried because of all the problems and delays with the whole program.
nuskit@reddit
I'll be honest, I don't know anybody that did watch it. I think the news is exhausting us & the war is sucking all the air out of the room right now.