First memory of a space program
- Thread starter Neopeius
- Start date
First thing I remember- Skylab falling. I remember the Skylab alerts on T.V., and wondering if it would fall on my house!
The day I was born, there were men walking on the moon.
The day I was born, there were men walking on the moon.
You'd be surprised. I think the most sophisticated thing we have now is a paper model of Orion.
I had to look it up the date, but I have one space memory before Alan Shepard's flight. It was from the summer before. I remember going out in the front yard with my parents and their friends and all of us looking for Echo1 flying overhead. We did see it and the concept of something orbiting above us was a mind blower for this seven year old kid.
"Ok, class!" Today we're going to watch the space shuttle go up. Today's is a special one because a teacher is going into space!"
:teacher rolls in TV cart:
An hour or so later:
... :crying:
That almost happened to us. Lucky for us, we were at lunch and we heard the rest of the kids talking about "the space shuttle blowing up" in line in the cafeteria. We thought the other kids were pulling our legs.
The sad thing is that we HATED our math teacher and we wanted her to go up so we could get rid of her for a few weeks. When we heard that the teacher who did go up was dead we all said, "Well, we don't hate her that much."
I have always been aware of the space program, and always heard about them discussing the hubble or satellites/ probes or the space stations. But, the two most distinct memories I have from early on was the Columbia disaster and the bringing down of Mir. The Columbia came down the morning of my final Jr High basketball tourney. Almost didn't go into town to play after spending all morning watching that. I remember the Mir mainly because of the big promotion that Taco Bell did where if part of the station came down on this floatee they put in the middle of the ocean, everyone would get free tacos.
Not to be argumentative but Sputnik was too small to see with the naked eye. Remember, it was less than 2 ft in diameter. The inflatible US Echo satellite was nearly 100 ft in diameter and was the first clearly visible space object.
I was 11 when Sputnik went up in 1957 but had already memorized a book by Willey Ley called All About Rockets and Jets. The fact that an orbital launch had taken place served to confirm everything I had learned from that book. I still have it somewhere.
I remember a night launch of an Apollo mission when I was about 5 or 6. Apollo 17 seems to fall into that parameter - would have gone up at about 10:30 pm local. I remember sitting in the basement watching with my parents.
Been nice knowing you, pal.
It is simply UNTRUE that T'Bonz'z earliest memory of the space program was recaptured in this drawing she made
at about age seven during a family
vacation to Colorado
Once again... NOT TRUE!!
Been nice knowing you, pal.
"Ok, class!" Today we're going to watch the space shuttle go up. Today's is a special one because a teacher is going into space!"
:teacher rolls in TV cart:
An hour or so later:
That was exactly what happened in my class as well. I recall being very interested in the early shuttle missions as a kid, but that was the first that I can still remember so vividly.
Footage of the moon landing, but it was a few years old by then.
Heh. We used to write to NASA and get big packets full of 8x11 pictures and informative pamphlets. That was in the late 70s.
I realized that Salyut 6 is not my earliest memory.
I dimly remember the Enterprise tests. I remember there was some sort of error and they filled all the tanks with nitrogen instead of providing oxygen for the crew, and at 3 years old, I thought that was a big deal.
I can't find anything about it now.
I can't remember anything specific, but I was definitely aware of the Shuttle program before Challenger. I was 11, and I was very excited that there was a teacher work day so I could watch the shuttle launch live for the first time. Took me 11 years to watch another live launch, for fear of jinxing it! But at least I got to watch that one in person. (Feb. 1997, 4am launch, not a cloud in the sky - absolutely beautiful!)
Took me 11 years to watch another live launch, for fear of jinxing it! But at least I got to watch that one in person. (Feb. 1997, 4am launch, not a cloud in the sky - absolutely beautiful!)
I'm in this camp with the rest of you. The 1960's were sure exciting times for a kid with an interest in space flight.
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