Absolute disbeleif. I was at university at the time, and that morning my mom called and told me she'd heard the shuttle exploded. I replied "I don't know what you heard, ma, but the shuttle didn't explode."

When I got to campus, my heart sank into my feet when I saw hundreds of students gathered in one of the foyer areas. They were all glued to a small tv set one of the admin people had put out for them to watch. I couldn't get anywhere near it, so I asked a fellow what was going on. I hoped against hope that whatever had happened wasn't disasterous...that it was managable.

Of course, that's not the answer I got.

There's typically a high population of Americans at most Canadian universities, I think. Certainly there is in Calgary. Everyone was devastated, to be sure, but the Americans in our midst seemed especially so. Not surprising, I suppose. I remember seeing a young woman I knew to be an American later in the day, and she was inconsolable. Though not particularly a space enthusiast, the destruction of Challenger was like a personal injury to her. I think she spent most of the day weeping. Shortly after that, she added a small astronaut figure to her charm bracelet.

Like so many, I still feel the emotions when I think about it or see images of the accident on television. Despite any shortcomings, the shuttle is an entirely remarkable vehicle, and stands as an enormous symbol of American accomplishment. But I also think many people the world over have adopted it into their hearts, and see it as a tremendous human stride not only into space, but into the future.