[ADXA] CHALLENGER DISASTER

[Steven Rutledge]

Hi guys.  I grew up in Orlando.  My mother and father were standing in 
our driveway watching the launch.  They saw the whole thing.  My mother 
immediately knew it had blown up.  Every time that particular rocket was 
launched, it shook the windows in our house in Orlando and rattled the 
glasses and the china.  Later I was able to view a launch from the roof 
of the communications center with VP Quayle.  Reportedly the closest you 
can get to the launch.  Much closer than the press area.  It was 
incredible.  One other thing.  I have the UPI original teletype 
print-outs announcing the fire in the the capsule that killed Gus 
Grissom and the other Astronauts.  These were the old teletype machines 
like you probably saw in the military if are as old as me.  The 
reporters at the Cape were hand-typing the details from the scene.  
Pretty amazing.

Sorry to get off topic here to all that aren't interested.

Steve, N4JQQ

On 1/28/2026 2:49 PM, Michael Reynolds, NO6O wrote:
> Hi Don,
>
> Has it been that long already?  I was working at the Sprint 
> Communications Network Management Center, in Burlingame, CA.  I was a 
> telecommunications technician, troubleshooting problems on the 
> network.  This was back when it was necessary to dial a local access 
> number to choose a long-distance carrier, other than AT&T.  It's also 
> when Sprint completed their nationwide fiber optic system.
>
> I happened to hear the announcement of the Challenger explosion on the 
> radio, and called out to everyone.  Someone found a TV, and we watched 
> the live reports coming in.
>
> As for the Space Center, I used to be stationed at Patrick Air Force 
> Base (now Space Force), near Cocoa Beach, in Florida.  I was in a 
> tactical mobile communications unit.  I lived just down the coast from 
> the Space Center, in Cape Canaveral.  I was there to see both Voyager 
> 1 and 2 lift off.  That was the thrill of a lifetime, considering 
> where they were headed.
>
> Also, whenever a rocket happened to explode after take off, our unit 
> would be deployed to search for debris.
>
> Michael, NO6O
>
>
> On 2026-01-28 2:28 PM, Don Banta wrote:
>>
>> I cannot believe the time has flown so fast, but today is the 40^th 
>> anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster.  Perhaps this 
>> might be interesting to some of you:
>>
>> Do you remember where you were and/or what you were doing that day on 
>> January 28, 1986?
>>
>> It isn’t hard at all for me to remember. – /I was there/…… at the 
>> Kennedy Space Center visitor launch viewing area, 6 miles from Launch 
>> Complex 39-B.
>>
>> I was treated to one of the greatest thrills I’ve ever experienced.  
>> Viewing a shuttle launch live is like viewing a total solar eclipse 
>> live…watching on television doesn’t even come close.  Unfortunately, 
>> that thrill lasted only 72 seconds.  Within 10 minutes of the 
>> explosion, we were herded back on the bus that had brought us to the 
>> viewing area from the Kennedy Space Center visitor center.  We were 
>> then instructed to leave immediately as the base was being closed.  I 
>> had just enough time to sprint into the gift shop and gather a few 
>> items for mementos.
>>
>> Although the racks were already almost bare, I was able to secure a 
>> Challenger button, flight patch, and packet of official NASA 
>> Challenger photos.  The next day before leaving our Orlando hotel, I 
>> found and purchased a copy of the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and 
>> after arriving back home had the front page laminated to preserve 
>> it.  A couple of weeks later I purchased the issue of People magazine 
>> that honored Christa McAuliffe:
>>
>>
>> 	
>> 	
>> 	
>>
>> 	
>> 	
>>
>>
>> 	
>>
>>
>> 73 – Don K5DB
>>
>>
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