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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 school children 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." |
