First memory of a space program

[Neopeius]

What is the very first memory you have of a space flight, manned or unmanned?

Mine was in 1980. I was 6. I read an article in TIME magazine about the end of one of the Salyut 6 missions.

Of course, come April 12, 1981, I was 7 and up at 4 in the morning to watch Columbia launch

 

[Hermiod]

Sadly, I think it was Challenger.

 

[Haytil]

The landing of "Pathfinder" on Mars on July 4, 1997.

 

[Capn Flukie]

I watched man walk on the moon live.

 

[captcalhoun]

my dad telling me when i was about 5 that the shuttle was flying over the house that night. (bearing in mind i'm british...)

 

[Spot's Meow]

Being told that I was born on the day of the Challenger explosion. Besides that I don't remember much else about the space program until the Columbia. It's not a topic I was ever particularly interested in or cared about.

 

[WillsBabe]

I can't remember to be honest. It's always been with me. I think the earliest memory I have of actually experiencing events was talking to a teacher one evening at school in the canteen about a mission that was taking place. I don't know which one it was or how old I was. Rough guess: late 1970s.

 

[trekkiedane]

I was a kid during the Apollo program so manned spaceflight wasn't anything special to me… going to the moon was just one of those things people did you know.

But my clearest early memory of (manned) spaceflight was watching the (live I believe) coverage of the re-entry and splashdown of the Apollo 13 Command Module with my grandma on TV.

 

[Pingfah]

My Dad used to buy me Spaceflight magazine every month, I remember eagerly awaiting him to get home with it.

The first specific major event I remember is Challenger

 

[btflash]

god, i'm dating myself here..... alan sheppards rocket blasting off.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I watched man walk on the moon live.

Did it look something like this?

That's my first clear memory of an actual mission, but I was very interested in the space program for several years before that. I remember I wrote a letter to NASA and they sent me back a big envelope with color photos, designs of vehicles and photocopied articles. I still have it. I'm sure their PR materials are much more sophisticated now, but that envelope is a treasure trove; and is much more personal than an "official" package.

 

[Ohappydagger]

The Challenger. I was 6 and seeing that footage on TV was scary. I remember wondering what happened to the people inside all that fire.

 

[DeafPoet]

I think it was my dad plunking me down to watch one of the shuttles launch in the late 80's. Can't remember which one. Challenger happened within my lifetime but I was all of 2 years old at the time so I don't recall it.

 

[Trekker4747]

"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:

 

[Hermiod]

"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:

Yeah, I even started welling up when they got to that part on NASA's Greatest Missions as well.

 

[SPOCKED]

Mid-60s Gemini missions - coverage would cut out my Saturday morning cartoon fix

 

[Hermiod]

Mid-60s Gemini missions - coverage would cut out my Saturday morning cartoon fix

Kids!

I would give my right arm to be able to see all of that live.

 

[Goliath]

Hmm. My Baby Book asures me that I was taking some of my first steps when Neil Armstrong was walking on the moon. But I have no memory of the moon landings, or of Skylab. The first space mission I can remember is Apollo-Soyuz, in 1975.

 

[Outpost4]

god, i'm dating myself here..... alan sheppards rocket blasting off.

Same here.

My mom let me stay home from school that day so I could watch Shepard's flight on television. Same thing for John Glenn's flight. I also remember using articles cut out of the newspaper on Glenn's flight in show-and-tell the next day in school, along with about half the class. Who cared we all brought the same thing to show-and-tell? It was huge.

 

[ancientone51]

Dating myself even further...Sputnik.

I can remember going outside and watching it go by overhead. Shinny white dot just trucking along.

I used to take my little transistor radio to grade school and listen whenever the nuns would let me. Then I'd update everyone who'd listen.