space@ucbvax.UUCP (01/31/86)
Text Of President's Reagan Speech
On Space Shuttle Explosion
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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 school children 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.
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.
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.
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.
The 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.