Back on this day in 1986 was a tragic day in American History.  It was supposed to be a momentous day and it turned into something horrible.

Thirty-years ago today, the entire world was glued to their TVs, TVs were brought into classrooms all over the country because today was the day they were going to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger.  That day would have been the first time a teacher would be sent into space as well.

This was huge, Christa McAuliffe was set to be the first teacher in space.

I remember, I was in 3rd grade and this was the talk of the moment.  The first teacher in space.  I remember thinking how cool this was, and how neat it would be to see this teacher in space.  We were all waiting to see the video sent back to Earth with her adventures, but that didn't happen.

As millions of people surrounded their TVs, the countdown happened. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,  Blast off.  Challenger took off into the sky, then it happened.  We see the explosion, we see the clouds of smoke and we see the debris falling to the ground.

You can watch the footage here.  It is graphic and for me it brought tears to my eyes.

Millions of people including children in classrooms all over the country,  in that instance witnessed the death of  7 American Astronauts, Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.

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