January 28, 1986. I was in 5th grade at the time, and had one of the toughest teachers of my life back then. I remember being in class that morning with my classmates and wondering where the teacher was. Evidently she was in the teacher's lounge with the rest of the teachers watching the Space Shuttle Disaster and the aftermath of that. Being a teacher, naturally she (and the rest of the teachers) were very affected by the death of Christa McAuliffe. I myself remember being very affected by it too. It was something of a loss of innocence for me, growing up in the mid 80s when we were still very big on space exploration and NASA and the Space Shuttle. I remember learning a lot about those subjects growing up, being one of the "I want to be an Astronaut when I grow up" crowd. When the Challenger exploded, it ended a lot of that for me and for many people. It was a realization that it may seem often that Americans do lead charmed lives, but that everything is not perfect here.
I'm a long way from the 12 year old kid I was back then, but I still remember, and its why this new Space Shuttle Disaster affects me today.