I lived in Tampa at the time and as soon as it happened I went outside and could see the split smoke plumes from the explosion. Just heartbreaking.
But I also had the pleasure of being invited to a landing of a previous flight, way "inside the ropes", and I'll never forget the sound of the shuttle coming in. No engines, so I expected it to be silent. Nope - talk about aerodynamically dirty!
Amazing craft and program. Too bad they couldn't keep the political pressure from interfering.