# After so many years, the sadness is still here.



## BradKajukenbo (Oct 18, 2019)

January 28, 1986
I waited and counted the days down. School had just started that day and our teacher had wheeled in the TV stand. It was a big day for schools all around the country. We were about to witness the first teacher to be lifted off into space. Then 70+ seconds after lift off that beautiful bird was gone. Blown apart into millions of pieces.

6 months before that, for my 9th birthday my grandpop enrolled me into space camp. The best time of my life. The night before our last day of camp, we were flown to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Two great things happened that day. I got to meet Commander Dick Scobee. The best tho, we got to go inside the Challenger Space Shuttle. I actually got to sit in Commander Scobee's seat. 

I think in a way when Challenger blew, for a brief moment I felt like I was in that shuttle that moment. Then it was nothing but sadness. This morning a random video was on youtube. I watched it and realized how sad I am for such a great loss.


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## Deleted member 24782 (Oct 18, 2019)

You may be interested in watching the film "Koyaanisqatsi". There are space shuttle scenes in the beginning and end that are eerily similar to the Challenege disaster, and people often mistake the footage as being the Challenger. Regardless, its a beautiful and inspiring film.


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## Deleted member 24782 (Oct 19, 2019)

ScarletMountain said:


> What’s even more sad is people think outer space & aliens are real.



Whats sadder than that is I can't tell if your being sarcastic.


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## BradKajukenbo (Oct 19, 2019)

As for Aliens existing, I've never seen one personally. If there is, then that's cool. If there isn't, well that's cool too. It is what it is. My mind might be narrow, but it isn't shallow. 

I'm not convinced on the "There is no Space" theory. I'm sticking to the scientific facts. I can see the sun. I can see the moon. I can see the stars. And sometimes at the right moment, I can other planets. I'm not saying anyone is wrong or anyone is right. Again IT IS WHAT IT IS.

As for the Challenger Disaster, from the time of her sitting on the launch pad to the accident, all I could do was imagine myself sitting in Commander's Scobee seat and what he would have been doing. Had I not went to Space Camp and not got to experience being inside the Challenger, I don't think I would have felt the same sadness I did when I watched her blow up.

The space shuttle is one of those things that you have to see in person and go inside in order to really appreciate its size, what it does, and the power behind it. I know without a doubt I would never pass up the chance to take a ride on one. I wonder what it would be like to be up there floating around while smoking a blunt. A boy can dream can't he?


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## Older Than Dirt (Oct 19, 2019)

Oh my shoes and britches, you are a startlingly hippiefied hippie, or as the kids say, wook. You do look healthier in the new pic though. Lao Tzu certainly never said "everything is perfect how it is..if u tamper with it u ruin it". or anything like it. Like most things in life, you have misunderstood the _Tao Te Ching_.

To come into a thread about US astronauts whose death was a big deal to someone else and spout this silly "NASA can't pierce the firmament" stuff? Why? Can you explain where this "firmament" is?

NASA, and the Russians, and the Chinese, and the Pakistanis, and the Indians, and a bunch of others, (Elon fucking Musk!) _been_ piercing that firmament, son.

[I don't think folks should be silenced, even for things as inane as what @ScarletMountain posted, but they certainly lay themselves open to ridicule.]


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## roughdraft (Oct 19, 2019)

it is pretty clear @ScarletMountain don't you think it's a little distasteful that in a thread someone made about people they're still mourning and an event that fucked with their heads to come in here and suggest "duuude it didnt even happen maaan" 

but yet you suggest that "you don't know anything but these are just [your] thoughts"? 

don't you think it'd've been a lot better to just keep all that to yourself....?


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## WyldLyfe (Oct 19, 2019)

Aliens/multidimensional beings are real, saw some last night with multiple witnesses.


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## visionquest3311 (Oct 19, 2019)

We're the same age. I have the same memories of the Challenger explosion. Though my memory was feeling uncomfortable that no one else seemed to get that it had blown up for a long while. It was weird. And then thinking about that teacher and her body blown to smithereens. It was very sad. 

And really I am sorry for your loss. Maybe you lost a dream that day.


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## Older Than Dirt (Oct 19, 2019)

@ScarletMountain - The translation (Lau 1963) i am more familiar with has ch 29: 66 as follows:

_Whoever takes the empire and wishes to do anything with it I see will have no respite. The empire is a sacred vessel and nothing should be done to it. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it. _

Not quite the same new age-y sentiment, is it? You might want to get familiar with some more scholarly versions than the online version you quote before you start telling folks what Lao Tzu said.

The chapter ends (v. 68):

_Therefore the sage avoids excess, extravagance, and arrogance._

Good advice.


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## BradKajukenbo (Oct 20, 2019)

visionquest3311 said:


> We're the same age. I have the same memories of the Challenger explosion. Though my memory was feeling uncomfortable that no one else seemed to get that it had blown up for a long while. It was weird. And then thinking about that teacher and her body blown to smithereens. It was very sad.
> 
> And really I am sorry for your loss. Maybe you lost a dream that day.



I remember right after the explosion, most of everyone was confused about what was going on. The moment of the explosion, my teacher dropped to her knees and started crying. I think most were in hopes that they would see the orbiter in a chance it escaped the blast.

3 astronauts aboard the shuttle didn't die instantly. 3 of them survived the initial breakup of the shuttle but lost consciousness due to loss of cabin pressure and probably died due to oxygen deficiency pretty quickly. These 3 activated their emergency packs after the breakup, one was Mike Smith the shuttle pilot. Even if they did survive the fall back to earth, the impact of the crew compartment hitting the ocean at almost 200mph would have killed any suvivors.

I feel bad for the engineers who designed the SRB's o-rings. 13 hours before launch they even tried begging NASA to if not scrub the launch but push it a few hours later because Rubber O-Rings do not work or seal like they should in freezing temps. But the managers of Morton-Thiokol who built the SRB were more concerned about keeping their jobs then the safety of crew.


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## Deleted member 24782 (Oct 20, 2019)

ScarletMountain said:


> Yes I expected people wouldn’t like what I have to say what others think of me is not my business
> Lao Tzu said in Tao Te Ching
> “The *world is sacred*. It can't be improved. If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it. If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.”
> I didn’t quote it verbatim ..so there’s the actual quote to avoid misunderstanding
> ...



I'm starting to like @ScarletMountain, I don't care how wingnut his rants are. My aunt Kandie is also a firm firmament believer- whoops I'm punny. BUT, she also believes abducted children's bodies are ground up into chicken nuggets at McDonalds. I still love her though.


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