The Final Countdown - A tribute to the martyrs

Last year, I watched a series of interesting documentaries, Moon Machines at Discovery Channel. Although I was dissappointed Astro did not provide subtitle for the series, which made me watched the series with high volume plus extra 'noise' from my two little brothers, the series did provide valuable insights and information.

There was one episode that hooked me really deep with the scientific community at NASA and other space centres. In which I think, it was a sentiment shared worldwide. A sad and respectful remembrance from scientific communities and individuals, to the 7 martyrs that had lost their lives on 28 January 1986. I did tweet on that day, retweeting Obama's speech. But I did not have the time to finish my post, so I postponed it.

An episode that took my heart, and sent me speechless. It was my first time knowing that, and I was so sad by the fact. When I saw the craft exploded, I was like "Allah" covering my mouth with hand and another hand placed on my chest.

Space Shuttle Challenger's smoke plume after the in-flight breakup that killed all seven crew members [Wikipedia].

The disaster happened 73 seconds after the lift-off, when the spacecraft exploded leading to the deaths of its crews. You can read more here. Seven nice crews, some with families, died in the explosion.

STS-51-L crew: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik.

Seven crews. Rest in Peace. Their sacrifices had made space exploration more meaningful than ever.

Although I am not a member of their community, nor I am an official scientist by title, I share the same spirit and sentiment with them. And of that, I raise my hand to my forehead -  a crisp salute to all of them.

Watch This, a journey from start to the end. A tribute for them. T_T