Earlier today space shuttle Atlantis launched into space, which marked the end to NASA’s 30-year space program. As with anything else, people flocked to social media to discuss the monumentos, yet sad, event.
Mere moments after the countdown clock hit all zero’s, and Atlantis was on it’s way, the Philadelphia Inquirer made a head scratching mistake. They confused Atlantis with a pervious shuttle… the Challenger. The doomed shuttle that exploded on January 28, 1986, which was less than two minutes into its flight.
The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle
The Inquirer was quick to delete the tweet, updating their status with the following message:
Correction: Atlantis has lifted off for last mission by American space shuttle.
Before they could even get the tweet deleted… Twitter users had already seen it. As I’m sure you can imagine, some were astounded at the typo:
@PhillyInquirer: The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle
And they wonder why newspapers are dying. RT@PhillyInquirer The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by a US space shuttle.
I believe this is what kids today call a “FAIL” RT@PhillyInquirer Pretty tasteless joke.
@PhillyInquirer: The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle
WOW…just wow…RT#fail today. AP too RT @PhillyInquirer: The Challenger has lifted off for the last mission by an U.S. space shuttle
Lots of mediaYou can read more Twitter reaction here.
To stay up-to-date on all things Atlantis be sure to check out NASA’s site, you can even read tweets from the astronauts