Nearly 28 years later, and these photos take me back to the same emotions of that day

Never Before Seen Photos of the Challenger Disaster

I was 18 and a sophomore in college when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred. My boyfriend was obsessed with the space shuttle programme and was studying computers in the hope of joining NASA. I watched that dream die that day, and the horror of it all make an indelible impression on me second only to the 9/11 tragedy. It's one of those things where you remember exactly where you were when you found out, what was said, how the day was spent. In my case it was glued to the TVs in the student centre watching it happen over and over, questioning how this could happen.

Even now, each year I think about the tragedy as the anniversary nears. So I was interested when I saw the link to this story. Each step of the climb, and its terrible conclusion, were captured in the series of photographs that make my throat catch and my eyes tear for those lost, and for that dream that was lost as well.