1986: CNN's coverage of the Challenger explosion

The engineers warned them not to launch. They did anyways. Whoever approved and authorized the launch knew the risks and sent them anyways. Bad move.

"After more delays than NASA cares to count"...that kind of attitude is what led to this disaster.

"Obviously a major malfunction" - Possibly the greatest understatement in the history of mankind!

If you're a broadcaster at this moment you have to be sure -- you can't be the person out in front of a false report -- and that pressure must have been extraordinary in this case.

Rest in peace to the seven souls we lost 33 years ago today. We will never forget you.

The guy with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth and yelling "everybody shut up in here!" Is my hero!

Not sure if this is just average newsroom energy, but i love seeing people, in whatever job, in high octane, 'somethings wrong' mode.

Who’s here after the launch today which was a success thank God🙌🏾....

All these people, dying after taking the risk of going to space, sacrificing their lives, helping the future missions be success... i salute these people so much... then flat earthers appear....

"obviously a major malfunction"

I was just a little kid when this happened. Single digits even. We had all been allowed to stay home from school to watch the launch on tv. My Dad, who owned his own shop, stayed home to watch with my Mom and me. When it happened, my Mom screamed and my Dad actually cried. I didn’t realize what had happened and asked him why he was crying. He said “cause they all just blew up”. Nearly 35 years later, my Dad deceased now, I still remember it like it was yesterday. One of the biggest, most widely witnessed in real time, saddest, most unexpected tragedies that ever happened in our country. Especially because how happy and excited everyone was just moments before, and a civilian teacher was part of the mission. Horrible tragedy. All these years later I’ve never forgotten that day.

The last frame of the video is so.. eerie.

The CNN people could not look more 80s if they tried

After all these years this still make me SO angry. They KNEW they shouldn't launch that day. It was so cold and the shuttle was covered in ice. There was talk for weeks before that it couldn't be launched if the temp was below 50. But they did it anyway. After there was talk that the astronauts may have been alive when the capsule went in the water.

This is amazing footage in the Newsroom. I didn't know they shot background b-roll footage like this back then. This event was such a shock. I remember being in timesquare and seeing everybody standing in place looking up at the giant ticker scrolling the story minutes after it happened.

I remember sitting in my grade 2 class, watching it all unfold. At first we were confused. I'll never forget our teacher telling us the obvious of the moment. We were stunned. Eventually we all started crying. I recall it like yesterday.

I admire the professionalism, seriousness and organization of the 80s CNN crew.

still just as hard to watch in 2019

I was 17 years old when it happened. It was during my lunch period and someone, I think, went into the cafeteria to say something happened. I watched the story unfold in the library. I'll never forget it.😢

"And graphics, I need graphics!" They use that line in Deep Impact.