good@osu-eddie.UUCP (Douglas N. Good) (01/31/86)
The following is a transcript of President Ronald Reagan's speech given on
28-JAN-1986 17:01 est.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you
tonight to report on the State of the Union. But the events
of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today
is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are
pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger.
We know we share this pain with all the people of our
country. This is truly a national loss.
Nineteen years ago almost to the day, we lost three
astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've
never lost an astronaut in flight. We've never had a
tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage
it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the
Challenger seven, were aware of the dangers and overcame
them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes:
Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair,
Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe. We
mourn their loss as a nation together.
To the families of the seven, we cannot bear as you do
the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss and
we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were
daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that
special spirit that says: "Give me a challenge, and I'll
meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe
and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they
did. They served all of us.
We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard
to dazzle us. But for 25 years, the United States space
program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the
idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just
begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the
Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of
America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's
takeoff. I know it's hard to understand, but sometimes
painful things like this happen. It's all part of the
process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of
taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future
doesn't belong to the fainthearted. It belongs the brave.
The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and
we'll continue to follow them.
I've always had great faith in and respect for our
space program. And what happened today does nothing to
diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't
keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and
in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't
change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space.
There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews,
and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in
space. Nothing ends here. Our hopes and our journeys
continue.
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I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and
woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and
tell them, "Your dedication and professionalism have moved
and impressed us for decades, and we know of your anguish.
We share it."
There's a coincidence today. On this date 390 years
ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship
off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime, the great
frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He
lived by the sea, died on it and was buried in it." Well,
today, we can say of the Challenger crew, their dedication
was, like Drake's, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us
with the manner in which they lived their lives. We will
never forget them or the last time we saw them, this
morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved
goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the
face of God.
Thank you.