President Reagan's Speech on The Challenger Disaster
Ronald Reagan
Oval Office of the White House, January 28, 1986
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 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...
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 honoured 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 the journey and
waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the
face of God.'
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