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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 . We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.
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 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 three hundred and ninety 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." 1 1 P hrases in quotation marks found in the poem High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr . Also in this database : George W. Bush: "Columbia" Disaster Address See Also : Off-site audio clip explaining cause of Shuttle Challenger disaster Audio and Images #1 and #3 (Screenshots) Source : The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library Images of Challenger Crew Source : Wikimedia.org U.S. Copyright Status : Text, Audio, Image #1 and #3 of Reagan = Property of A merican R hetoric.com. Additional Images = Public domain.
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 President Reagan’s speech to a nation reeling after Challenger disasterThirty years ago, the nation witnessed one of NASA’s most public failures when the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean 73 seconds into launch, leaving the memorable image of a Y-shaped plume of smoke across the otherwise sunny sky. It also left President Ronald Reagan with the sizable duty of consoling the nation in the face of so much loss. All seven crew members died, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was selected as the first civilian to fly in space. “You know how frightened people get when they see things blow up?” speechwriter Peggy Noonan said in her 1986 exit interview . “I kind of figured the entire nation had seen an auto accident.”  President Reagan and his staff watch a televised replay of the Challenger disaster. Photo courtesy of Bill Fitzpatrick via Ronald Reagan Library Reagan was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address later that night, but canceled it for a four-minute, much simpler speech focusing on the disaster. It would be months before NASA scientists would learn the below-freezing temperatures compromised the rockets’ rubber O-rings . Discussing her speech last year, Noonan said Reagan needed “to do a speech that is aimed at those who are 8 years old, and those who are 18, and those who are 80 without patronizing anybody.” Reagan remembered the victims with an ending was literally poetic; it was taken from a poem, titled “High Flight,” written by American aviator John Gillespie Magee in World War II. Magee died at age 19 from a mid-air collision. “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,'” the president said. Noonan said she remembered the poem from seventh grade. “It’s always very important to put these things in context again and say, ‘Terrible things happen to pioneers, but the trek does not stop here,'” she said. In a effort to maintain excitement about space exploration, NASA selected McAuliffe out of thousands of applicants to become the first in a series of “payload specialists,” or civilian passengers. On the official insignia of the mission, the 37-year-old high school teacher was represented by a red apple . NASA also had arranged for live broadcasts of the launch in many classrooms so children could watch the first teacher reach space.  In lieu of his State of the Union address, President Ronald Reagan delivered a four-minute speech hours after the Challenger shuttle broke apart in the sky. Photo courtesy of Mary Anne Fackelman via Ronald Reagan Library Speaking from the Oval Office , hours after the disaster, Reagan assured Americans the space program would continue, after he directly addressed schoolchildren. “I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen,” the president said, “It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. … The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.” Reagan said there would be more shuttle flights and, “yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.” Despite Reagan’s promise, public enthusiasm for civilian passengers soon waned . Decades later, NASA shuttered its space shuttle program. Joshua Barajas is a senior editor for the PBS NewsHour's Communities Initiative. He also the senior editor and manager of newsletters. Support Provided By: Learn more Educate your inboxSubscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.  Help inform the discussion
Presidential SpeechesJanuary 28, 1986: address on the space shuttle "challenger", about this speech. Ronald Reagan January 28, 1986 President Reagan gives this address to the nation from the Oval Office on an evening scheduled for the State of the Union address. The space shuttle Challenger was supposed to be the first mission to put a civilian into space. He reminds his audience of the bravery and dedication of those who were killed on the shuttle. 
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 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 is 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 an 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." More Ronald Reagan speeches
Full text of President Reagan's speech after Challenger disaster WASHINGTON -- Following is the text of President Reagan's speech mourning the loss of the Challenger astronauts: Ladies and gentlemen, I 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 over 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. Advertisement 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'd 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 7, were aware of the dangers and overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. Advertisement 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. 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement The crew of the space shuttle 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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