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FF to 1986 and Challenger.  We don't need to rehash the details, but 7 astronauts lost, vehicle lost.  Major black eye on the Space Program. 

My wife and I are both from the generation that is still haunted by this.  We were both in grade school in 1986 and both of us had the same experience.  It was a big deal because of the "Teacher in Space" so they rolled the AV Cart into our classrooms and we were watching on live TV when Challenger blew up and seven Astronauts died.  

Fast forward to Wednesday night.  We watched Artemis II with our kids and we were both nervous because literally the last space launch that we watched live was the one 40 years ago that we watched blow up from our grade school classrooms.  

Yeah I was in junior high, same thing, we all watched the Challenger launch on the TVs they wheeled into all of our classrooms.  A celebration turned to stunned silence so quickly.

I've watched a lot of launches, both before and after the Challenger.  Ever since that one, and including Artemis II, I can't help but feel tremendous anxiety, until the vehicle is well downrange and completed all of its stages.

I think they plan to come back actually.

Even with no more burns they'd go around the Moon and return.

Well, what I intended to say was that they can't come back under their own power.  At this point, they can only come back after they go 'round the moon, Apollo 13 style.  

They could orbit the moon in a very weird orbit (NHRO), because the Service Module for the Orion doesn't have enough juice to put them into the same orbit that Apollo went in.  

I saw some stuff on Twitter (X) recently about how most people (allegedly) mis-remember the Challenger, that very few watched it live, etc. 

I do recall not watching it live, but I do remember I was in the 4th grade, and our teacher was following it by listening on the radio.  I recall her being shook up, I realize now she was probably holding back tears, and word got out that it exploded.  I didn't even know they had a teacher in space program. 

No, I distinctly remember them wheeling in the TV cart into my 3rd grade class and we saw it live.

Watching launches wasn't a common thing that I remember, but they were making a big deal of it specifically because they had the teacher in space thing. 

That crossed my mind as well. It was on in our office. Horrifying.

That said, we enjoyed liftoff coverage and then went out back and watched it in the sky, from the lanai.

Amazing stuff.

I have an ama ing view of the launches from my back pool deck👍