[00:01.02]Ladies and Gentlemen,
[00:02.81]I'd planned to speak to you tonight
[00:04.47]to report on the State of the Union,
[00:06.76]but the events of earlier today
[00:09.19]have led me to change those plans.
[00:11.47]Today is a day for mourning and remembering.
[00:15.06]Nancy and I are pained to the core
[00:17.12]by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger.
[00:19.56]We know we share this pain with
[00:20.92]all of the people of our country.
[00:23.29]This is truly a national loss.
[00:26.35]Nineteen years ago,
[00:27.71]almost to the day,
[00:29.34]we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident
[00:31.62]on the ground.
[00:33.20]But, we've never lost an astronaut in flight.
[00:36.09]We've never had a tragedy like this.
[00:38.97]And perhaps we've forgotten the courage
[00:40.43]it took for the crew of the shuttle.
[00:42.97]But they, the Challenger Seven,
[00:45.16]were aware of the dangers,
[00:46.13]but overcame them
[00:47.75]and did their jobs brilliantly.
[00:49.77]We mourn seven heroes:
[00:52.30]Michael Smith,
[00:53.56]Dick Scobee,
[00:54.78]Judith Resnik,
[00:56.30]Ronald McNair,
[00:57.66]Ellison Onizuka,
[00:59.89]Gregory Jarvis,
[01:01.57]and Christa McAuliffe.
[01:03.38]We mourn their loss as a nation together.
[01:06.72]For the families of the seven,
[01:08.50]we cannot bear, as you do,
[01:10.82]the full impact of this tragedy.
[01:13.10]But we feel the loss,
[01:15.37]and we're thinking about you so very much.
[01:18.30]Your loved ones were daring and brave,
[01:21.21]and they had that special grace,
[01:23.19]that special spirit that says,
[01:24.60]Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy
[01:27.89]They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths.
[01:31.62]They wished to serve, and they did.
[01:34.52]They served all of us.
[01:36.59]We've grown used to wonders in this century.
[01:38.81]It's hard to dazzle us.
[01:40.79]But for twenty-five years the United States space program
[01:43.62]has been doing just that.
[01:45.44]We've grown used to the idea of space,
[01:48.22]and, perhaps we forget that we've only just begun.
[01:51.60]We're still pioneers.
[01:53.33]They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
[01:58.20]And I want to say something
[01:59.61]to the schoolchildren of America
[02:00.72]who were watching the live coverage
[02:02.59]of the shuttle's take-off.
[02:05.22]I know it's hard to understand,
[02:06.59]but sometimes painful things like this happen.
[02:09.18]It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery.
[02:12.72]It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons.
[02:17.84]The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted;
[02:21.03]it belongs to the brave.
[02:23.31]The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future,
[02:25.78]and we'll continue to follow them.
[02:29.68]I've always had great faith in and respect
[02:32.16]for our space program.
[02:34.24]And what happened today does nothing to diminish it.
[02:36.76]We don't hide our space program.
[02:38.75]We don't keep secrets and cover things up.
[02:41.77]We do it all up front and in public.
[02:44.40]That's the way freedom is,
[02:46.19]and we wouldn't change it for a minute.
[02:48.51]We'll continue our quest in space.
[02:50.53]There will be more shuttle flights
[02:52.50]and more shuttle crews
[02:54.33]and, yes, more volunteers,
[02:55.84]more civilians, more teachers in space.
[02:59.38]Nothing ends here;
[03:00.96]our hopes and our journeys continue.
[03:03.49]I want to add that
[03:05.36]I wish I could talk to every man and woman
[03:07.65]who works for NASA,
[03:08.96]or who worked on this mission
[03:10.38]and tell them:
[03:13.05]Your dedication and professionalism have moved
[03:15.38]and impressed us for decades.
[03:17.46]And we know of your anguish.
[03:19.98]We share it.
[03:22.16]There's a coincidence today.
[03:23.98]On this day 390 years ago,
[03:26.61]the great explorer Sir Francis Drake
[03:28.89]died aboard ship off the coast of Panama.
[03:31.96]In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans,
[03:35.35]and a historian later said,
[03:36.97]He lived by the sea,
[03:38.99]died on it,
[03:40.20]and was buried in it.
[03:42.28]Well, today,
[03:43.65]we can say of the Challenger crew
[03:46.17]Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.
[03:50.21]The crew of the space shuttle Challenger
[03:51.99]honored us by the manner
[03:53.60]in which they lived their lives.
[03:55.42]We will never forget them,
[03:57.09]nor the last time we saw them,
[03:59.11]this morning, as they prepared for their journey
[04:01.74]and waved goodbye
[04:04.22]and slipped the surly bonds of earth
[04:07.86]to touch the face of God.
[04:09.83]Thank you.