He had stepped outside to see the launch, keeping one eye on the sky and another on local TV coverage. Now he could say he had seen a rocket explode and he was thrilled. The bright orange and blue flames, as well as the spectacular crash of the satellite as it hit the ocean was -- well, it was just so cool.

I smiled, assured Christopher I was fine and then just before we hung up I said to him, "Well, I'm glad you finally got to see a rocket blow up."

It was at that very moment that a Boeing spokeswoman and I locked eyes -- and she heard what I said.
 
 

Apollo 13, though fated to never reach the moon, launched normally from Cape Canaveral in 1970.

Until that moment she had remained calm in front of TV cameras and as positive as possible in relating what was known and not known at that point. But my supportive words to my happy son sounded callous and rude to her, and she lost her composure, leaving the room as tears finally came.

One launch. One failure. Two reactions. Triumph and tragedy -- all in one night.

No one who works for, or is associated with, the space program ever -- EVER -- wants to see a rocket explode. It is an unthinkable loss for the people who worked on the project every time it happens.

But when rockets explode they paint a spectacle in the sky that cannot be forgotten by eyewitnesses.

And thanks to cameras of all types, the disasters are recorded to become a colorful part of space history, and a reminder to space rookies and veterans alike that rockets are unforgiving of error or malfunction.

When viewed in balance with those successful launches that also made history -- and thankfully the successful shots far outnumber the failures -- you see both sides of what is possible for humankind to experience in the richly rewarding, yet still risky pursuit of the final frontier.

So on this first Fourth of July weekend of the new millennium -- or the last of the 20th century, if you prefer -- SPACE.com has assembled a gallery of some of the most memorable sights over the skies of Cape Canaveral during the past 50 years.

A star-spangled, rockets'-red-glare kind of video collection to enjoy and be inspired by between trips to the grill.

Presented here are videos of the first big televised failure at Cape Canaveral, from November 1957, when a Navy Vanguard rocket tried to deliver the United States' first satellite into orbit as a response to the Soviet Union's successful Sputnik 1 launch a month earlier. The rocket exploded on the pad.

During the next decade the successes came quickly, from Alan Shepard's first trip into space in 1961, to John Glenn's first trip into Earth orbit, to the launch of Apollo 11 on the first lunar-landing mission. Each launch using bigger and bigger rockets, and each just as beautiful in their own way.

Also available are some of the classic rocket failures from the missile heydays at the Cape, when it seemed more hardware ended up offshore in the Atlantic than on target downrange. Old-timers say they recall the launches with a mix of sadness and fond nostalgia for the heady times and the speed in which new things were learned and tested.

And from more modern times is another mix of the good and the bad, beginning with the successful first space shuttle mission in April 1981, an event now nearly two decades old but still considered part of the modern era of spaceflight.

Other modern rockets -- such as the Delta, Atlas and Titan -- can be seen in videos here both in success and in failure, again reminding us that in 50 years we have learned a lot about rockets and spaceflight, but there is still so much more to be learned.

The triumphs and tragedies are sure to continue, but for now let's limit the fireworks to your computer screen, and to the professional outdoor displays of a more ancient form of rocket that help us celebrate the birth of a great nation.