I didn't get to post this yesterday, since it was a busy day, but...
I woke up pretty late yesterday morning and flipped on the TV. I usually don't watch TV much in the mornings, even on weekends, but I just decided to see what was on. Sometimes there's something good on PBS. What awaited me was video of those bright streaks in the sky that, by now, people have seen far too much of. It took me a few moments (and some channel flipping) to even grasp the magnitude of what had happened.
It instantly made me think back to the Challenger explosion in 1986. I remember sitting in class when they told us about it. For some reason, I seem to remember that they brought in a TV for us to watch the news on, but that may just be my memories getting all jumbled up. Back then, I was really into astronomy, so the news hit me hard. Today, I was just sort of shocked that it could happen again in a lifetime.
It's truly a sad day.