NASA Video of Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion on 27th Anniversary of Catastrophe

I was a senior in high school when this happened and I remember the teachers rolling the televisions into the room so we could watch.

It was exhilerating to imagine Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to be picked to go into space, strapped into the Challenger on her way to the great beyond. I remember the confusion as it exploded and the horror when her fate and that of the other six crew members became clear.

On this 27th anniversary, watch the NASA footage of these heroes so that we will not forget.

From President Ronald Reagan:

"We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers." -- President Ronald Reagan, Jan. 28, 1986