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Ronald
Reagan:
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 of 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, but 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.
For 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 twenty-five 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 take-off. 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 to 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.
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 day 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 by the manner in
which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor 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." |
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