[Note: The President spoke at 5 p.m. from
the Oval Office at the White House
. His address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television.]
When did Reagan give his Challenger speech?
It was
January 28, 1986
, the day the space shuttle orbiter Challenger exploded in the sky, killing all seven astronauts on board.
What made Ronald Reagan qualified to give the challenger speech?
Reagan narrows his focus to the first and most affected sub-audience:
the families of the fallen
. He acknowledges the inappropriateness of suggesting how they should feel and offers praise they can take hold of with words like “daring,” “brave,” “special grace,” and “special spirit.”
Who wrote Reagans Challenger speech?
On the night of the disaster, Reagan delivered a speech, written by Peggy Noonan, in which he said: The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave…
What is the subject of Reagan’s Challenger speech?
The main focus of Reagan’s speech is
to acknowledge the fallen Challenger Seven as well as urge NASA to keep progressing with their work for the space program
.
Who does President Reagan compares the Challenger crew to?
He went on to compare the Challenger crew to another great — if controversial — pioneer,
Sir Francis Drake
. The pirate hero died exactly 390 years earlier, on a ship off the Panamanian coast.
Why does Reagan compare the crew of the Challenger to pioneers?
We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were
pioneers
. … 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.
Who was the audience of the Challenger speech?
The American nation
was ultimately the main audience during the Challenger speech. As aforementioned, high expectations were assumed of the Challenger mission and was a proud moment for America. Though, due to this failure, Reagan had to address his audience in specific way and at a personal level.
How does President Reagan feel about the space program?
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
After the shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986,
he delivered a moving speech to the nation
, insisting that the tragedy wouldn’t halt America’s drive to explore space. “The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave,” he said.
Did the space shuttle Challenger explode?
On
Jan. 28, 1986
, seven astronauts were killed when the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after launch. … Just 73 seconds into the flight, the space shuttle exploded in midair, breaking apart.
Did they ever find the bodies of the Challenger shuttle astronauts?
In March 1986,
the remains of the astronauts were found in the debris of the crew cabin
. Though all of the important pieces of the shuttle were retrieved by the time NASA closed its Challenger investigation in 1986, most of the spacecraft remained in the Atlantic Ocean.
Why did the Challenger O rings fail?
Morton-Thiokol engineers determined that
the cold temperatures
caused a loss of flexibility in the O-rings that decreased their ability to seal the field joints, which allowed hot gas and soot to flow past the primary O-ring.
What is the main idea of President Reagan’s speech?
Reagan gets up in front of a German landmark and basically says,
loud enough for the whole wide world to hear, that the Berlin Wall is stupid, communism is a big fat fail
, and freedom is the answer to every question ever asked.
What is the occasion of the Challenger speech?
Reagan’s speech on Challenger is epideictic, which is speech intended to praise often used to mark a formal event. The Space Shuttle “Challenger” Tradgedy Address
He honors those who died
, explains what happened to the children who watched it in school, and offers hope that the United States will continue exploring.
Who was president when the Challenger exploded?
As the nation’s leader,
President Reagan
decided to address the country about the Challenger tragedy. Putting aside his scheduled State of the Union address before Congress, the President instead delivered an Oval Office address to comfort the people as the nation mourned.
Who was the Challenger crew?
The brave crew members —
Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe
— survived the initial disaster and “were conscious, at least at first, and fully aware that something was wrong,” author Kevin Cook writes in the new book “The Burning Blue: The Untold Story …
