2021/2022
Collection 17

All Eyes Are Watching

1986; Richardson, Texas, USA

Imagine watching a spaceship explode in the sky on live TV. That is what happened to my father on January 28, 1986. Most school children were watching this launch, because it was the first time a teacher would be going into space. Her name was Christa McAuliffe; she had given many interviews on TV, and America had gotten to know and even love her. Schools around the country had TVs wheeled into their classrooms to watch the space shuttle Challenger’s launch into space. This was history in the making!

On launch day my dad, then sixteen years old, was watching in the school library. The space shuttle engines built up power as the countdown reached “10” — everything began to shake and rumble. The sound was furious as the Challenger began to slowly rise and shoot off into the sky! Suddenly there was a huge puff of smoke, and the announcer fell silent. My dad didn’t think anything was wrong at first, but then the camera focused on one of the booster rockets shooting away wildly like a dart. My dad was watching with the librarians, and everyone was staring at the screen with confusion and shock. My dad heard the announcer say something about an explosion. One librarian began to cry; everyone was still.

My dad began to go back to his classroom. He wondered if anyone had been hurt. To him it looked like the shuttle had still been flying. He anticipated that everything would be okay, but his hopes were futile. As he headed toward the classroom, more people began to come into the hallway, and many were crying. Teachers were comforting students and each other. The Challenger had exploded.

At my dad’s school, classes couldn’t resume as usual. Everyone was talking about what they had seen, so the school called an assembly. The principal talked to the kids about what had happened and said a prayer. This helped my dad, but there were still so many confusing feelings for him. Shuttles had launched many times before, and he had never considered launches to be dangerous. He couldn’t understand how this had happened. It seemed impossible.

At home, things went on as usual for my father. He went to his room and did his homework while his mother cooked dinner for the family. During the meal, his father and mother talked about how horrible and sad the whole thing was. After eating, my dad turned on the TV; to his surprise he saw President Reagan beginning to talk about the Challenger. During the speech, my dad began to grasp what had happened that day. President Reagan was very clear: There had been an explosion, the astronauts had died, and now we had to honor their sacrifice and begin to recover from the shock — yet continue to strive and do daring and bold things. For the first time since the explosion, my dad felt that things were going to be okay.

Veronica DelGrosso; Missouri, USA

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