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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 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 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 their journey and
waved goodbye, and "slipped the surly bonds of
earth" to "touch the face of God."
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