Space Shuttle RIP

NASA inside peeps reflecting on the space shuttle HERE.

Press conference on NASA TV at noon.

Obviously, to somebody my age, the two biggest events in space shuttle history are the beginning:

I can still remember holding off going outside to wait for the bus (which was probably still about 45 minutes away) as the final countdown for the first one was going on. Then, I think, it stopped with 39 seconds left. Though that might be apocryphal on my part. Then I remember Jane Pauley saying Joe Louis had just died, so I wrote out the barber shop scenes for Coming to America while I waited. I was at the perfect age for that launch, 4th grade, and I wrote a letter to NASA to the captain. Never heard back (won't Facebook him - I am too proud.) Twas the year I wrote to NASA and got back a buncha shit about Mars.

And the Challenger explosion:

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Challenger explosion; I remember very clearly Mr. Smith announcing it to us in World Geography class. Yes, the same Mr. Smith who, while handing me my trophy as the 1986 World Geography Award Winner, took the time to explain to the entire class that I didn't actually deserve it. Grrrr.