Challenger Disaster Speech Speeches

January 28, 1986, marks the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion. A day that will go down in history as a horrible tragedy for both NASA and America. Seven lives were lost that day, including the life of a high school teacher from New Hampshire. Former President Ronald Reagan was tasked with explaining this tragic event to the US people. Because of this, Reagan postponed the State of the Union Address and spoke about the Challenger Explosion instead. In his address to the nation about the explosion of the space shuttle, Challenger, President Ronald Reagan effectively commemorates the loss of the Challenger crew while also celebrating the crew’s achievements and encouraging further space travel by establishing pathos through his show of empathy, employing strong positive connotation, and alluding to the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake.

Many critics believe that NASA and space exploration should not be the main focus of the government. However, NASA is not just about flying rockets and putting men into space. There is science and engineering that is being developed to push humanity forward in life. This space program is essential to answering philosophical questions, creating new technology for practical everyday use, the international collaboration with other countries, and the long-term survival of the human

Due to the misfortune of this event, Barack Obama's speech was a eulogy. He used this style to honor the victims who had lost their lives in this shooting, as well as touch on previous tragedies such as those in Tucson, Aurora, and Oak Creek. After quoting scripture, Obama opened his speech by saying, "We gather here in memory of twenty beautiful children and six remarkable adults." He honored the victims by giving his love and prayers, and by naming each of the victims who have lost their lives in the shooting. Although Obama's purpose of this speech was to ask the nation to make a change, it was also to honor those who got killed in this catastrophic event. Because he named each specific

On January 28, 1986, a day that was supposed to be filled with excitement and exploration, suddenly turned into a day filled with tragedy and sadness. The space shuttle Challenger was supposed to carry a seven member crew into orbit with one unique member along for this particular mission. Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first teacher to go into space as a member of the Teacher in Space Project. Due to this occasion, the media coverage and the number of viewers of this mission was extensive, particularly in schools across the nation. The Challenger lifted off shortly after 11:30 A.M., but tragically only seventy three seconds after takeoff it exploded sending debris and the seven crew members back to earth and into the Atlantic

The purpose of this speech is to comfort the other boys and eliminate the fear.  He wants them to turn their focus away from fear towards the fire and rescue.

He uses the previous examples of individual's grief in his speech to make way to how this horrible situation could create a new, better beginning by using a single, simple rhetorical question: “why?”. After this, he states that “It is that out of the shadow of this evil, should emerge lasting good...“ and that out of this tragedy people should fight to make it to “people everywhere can see the chance of a better future through the hard work and creative power of the free citizen, not the violence and savagery of the fanatic.”, which ends the speech on a inspirational and humble

On the morning of January 28th, 1986, Americans watched in shock and horror as the space shuttle Challenger exploded only 74 seconds after its launch, killing all seven crew members on board including a high school teacher Christa McAuliffe. Thousands, including families of the crew and schoolchildren

The purpose of this speech was, overall, to address the tragic acts of terrorism. President Bush accomplishes this in an informative and effective manner through his elegiac tone throughout the speech. This mournful way of writing gives a respectful and empathetic feeling to the address. This is incredibly important, as many people were feeling grief, loss, fear, and heartache at the time. Another purpose for the speech is to call the American people to action. President Bush, through his use of imperative statements, successfully rallies his audience to action. After describing some upcoming changes to the government, he said “These measures are essential. But the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows” (“George Bush Speech”). This imperative statement gets the audience feeling determined to do their part to destroy terrorism. Soon after, he said, “I have a message for our military: Be ready. I’ve called the Armed Forces to alert, and there is a reason. The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud” (“George Bush Speech”). This specifically calls the military to action, which is a critical aspect of the speech. President Bush also uses this speech as an opportunity to thank people who made a difference in the tragic event, saying “I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time”, “I thank the world for its outpouring of support”, and, “…I thank you for your

On the morning of Janurary 28th 1986, the world witnessed in shock and horror what was known as the Challenger disaster as the space shuttle exploded only 73 seconds after its launch, killing all seven crew members onboard including one teacher Christa McAuliffe. Approximately 17 percent of Americans watched the live broadcast of this launch, many of them schoolchildren including those from McAuliffe’s school. From this grave moment emerged an exigency that demands immediate action by the president. Later on that same day, President Ronald Reagan delivered his Challenger address to the nation.

　　President Ronald Reagan inherited the space policy of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter and was not satisfied with its current objectives and lack of direction (Logsdon, 1995). He put together a transition team to draft a new chapter for NASA which was left in an “untenable position” by Carter’s lack of direction for the agency. The NASA transition team leader, George Low, remarked that NASA can be “the best in American accomplishment and inspiration for all citizens” (Logsdon, 1995). The team provided input to Reagan that would drive space policy during his eight year tenure.

After the seven astronauts, engineers, and Christa McAuliffe, a history teacher selected to be part of the mission, were killed in the terrible shuttle Challenger explosion, Ronald Reagan had the unbelievable job of explaining it to the country. Millions across the country were watching as the shuttle caught in flames and then exploded only 73 seconds after lift off. It was later determined that two rubber O-rings, designed to separate the sections of the rocket booster, had failed due to cold temperatures on the morning of the launch (http://www.history.com/topics/challenger-disaster). Reagan gave his speech at 5 pm on January 28, 1986 from the Oval Office at the White House, broadcasted live on nationwide radio and television. Reagan knew that he had to “make it plain to them that life does go on and you don’t back up and quit some worthwhile endeavor because of tragedy”. Reagan called in a relatively unknown speechwriter who would go on to pen some of the most famous phrases uttered by presidents, like President George H.W Bush’s “thousand points of light”, Peggy Noonan. Reagan started his speech simply with, “Today is a day for

While seated in the Oval Office of the White house, January 28, 1986 President Ronald Reagan delivers his speech The Challenger Disaster; hours after the space shuttle The Challenger explodes while in take off. Thousands witnessed this horrifying event live in person and on television. This mission was very unique allowing the first civilian to ever be allowed in space during a mission. She was aboard The Challenger as an observer in the NASA Teacher in Space Program. Ironically, nineteen years before this disaster, three astronauts were tragically lost in an accident on the ground. President Reagan remembers those astronauts that were lost not only the day of the disaster, but also those who were lost nineteen years before. He conducts

President Reagan uses logos to reaffirm that while the American space program is very dangerous and could have serious repercussions, it still serves an honorable purpose. He reminds the nation of the joy and excitement of discovery. He also emphasized that we as Americans “don’ keep secrets and cover things up.” And that’s American’s “do it all up front and in public.”, “that’s the way freedom is”, which not only appeals to America’s pride but connects our beliefs as Americans and the values we uphold to the space program versus the Soviet Union’s space programs success and failures. President Reagan also promises “more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews” and reaffirms that “Nothing ends here, our hopes and our journeys continue.”. President

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger was rolled out to Kennedy Space Center’s Pad-39A, for what would end up being its final launch. At T minus 5 seconds, the solid rocket boosters ignited, propelling the nearly 134-ton vertical flight vehicle into geocentric orbit. However, at T plus 73 seconds, Challenger experienced catastrophic structural failure which resulted in the loss of both the Shuttle and the seven crew members onboard. Among those seven crew members was Christa McAuliffe, an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire. McAuliffe was slated to be the first teacher in space, as well as the first teacher to teach not one, but two lessons from space.

On 28th January 1986, the whole world focused on the Challenger shuttle project, which was an evolution of carrying first person into space. However, after 73 seconds into the flight, the Challenger was ripped apart above Cape Canaveral in Florida. As a result, the launch of this shuttle exploded and killed seven