How much can things change in 73 seconds?

Looking at Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, I see that Jan. 28 is the anniversary of the Challenger disaster in 1985, which killed all seven astronauts aboard.

I was in my freshman year at U.C. Berkeley and had stopped by my friend, Mike Donnelly's dorm room, that day before my classes started. Maybe we were watching the launch live on TV when it happened, or maybe we just caught replays after it occurred that morning, I don't remember.

But I remember seeing the space shuttle explosion, 73 seconds into the flight, played over and over on his television. For me, too young to have lived through the Kennedy assassination, it was the first major news event I watched unfold with untold numbers of other television viewers.

A few hours later, televisions around campus continued to analyze what had happened. I remember watching news broadcasts from a pizza place (not Blondie's) near the campus as I ate lunch.