On this day, forty years ago: 28 January 1986.

I was working on my astronomy PhD in the terminal room at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh.

Someone came in & told us the awful news. After so many launches & astronauts, we’d grown blasé & didn’t pay much attention anymore.

That changed in 73 seconds on that cold day & we learned again that space is hard.

I still remember their names:

Onizuka, Smith, McAuliffe, Scobee, Jarvis, Resnick, & McNair.

Ad astra, STS-51L Challenger crew ✨

#space