Challenger 25 years
I was working night shift in a store in St. Petersburg, FL at the time. Slept late after my shift, probably got up about when the Challenger exploded.. Maybe 10-15 minutes later, turned on the TV and saw what had happened. Went outside, and could see the smoke trails of the booster engines still in the air. They looked all twisty and broken at the top... not their normal pattern at all (I still have that picture in my memory). Called my mom in N. Alabama, she had not seen the TV yet, told her what had happened and asked where my dad was. Dad worked as a contractor at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama. They are right beside Marshall Space Flight Center there, where all the astronauts trained (zero G buoyancy tank) Very tight community in Huntsville with the residents, the military and NASA. Dad was out on the base, later told me the word spread from building to building almost instantly. Needless to say, the entire community was devastated....