Ronald Reagan’s speech “Explosions of the Space Shuttle Challenger” was addressed to the Nation about the first tragedy during a flight to space. President Reagan’s response to the tragedy of the Challenger explosion included an argument about the space program. Reagan’s claim, or position, about the space program was credible and supported by logical reasoning and evidence. Reagan argued that the Challenger Seven knew what they were getting into: “But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers” (Line 10-11). Before the shuttle crew ascended into space, they were most likely mindful of the risk they were taking. Reagan also claimed that the space does not “keep secrets and cover things up” (Line 36), instead, they “do it all upfront
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.
On January 28th, 1986, Ronald Reagan used his stature as president to show sympathy for the country in the light of tragedy, in his speech entitled “Speech on the Challenger Disaster.” His main point expounds on the importance of the Challenger Disaster in the history of space exploration. He supports this claim by first explaining the effect the disaster had on the public, then offering his sympathy for the families of the astronauts as well as the entire nation, and finally declaring that the country must continue to explore space so the deaths of the astronauts were not in vain. Through Reagan’s use of rhetorical appeals, tone, and rhetorical tools he effectively persuades the American people to maintain confidence in NASA and in space exploration,
In this essay, President John F. Kennedy builds an argument to persuade his readers in investing in space exploration. Kennedy uses analogies and reasoning to build his argument towards investing in space exploration. Kennedy’s speech had a powerful impact on the decision whether to direct the resources of the United States toward the construction of a space program.
Seventy three seconds into its 10th flight, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing the seven crew members on board [1]. The Challenger was the second space shuttle constructed by NASA and had completed nine successful missions prior to the disaster. Following the accident, the shuttle program was suspended for 32 months as President Ronald Regan appointed a Commission, chaired by William P. Rogers and known as the Rogers Commission, to investigate the cause of the accident [1].
Reagan then reassured that the space program would continue to operate and “what happened today does nothing to diminish it”. This message sought to protect the ongoing space programs and was dedicated to the last sub-audience of his speech: the NASA people. He acknowledged their hard work and expressed sympathy for their loss of friends and coworkers.
Memos within a company serve several purposes. They may be used to report meeting agendas, policies, internal reports, or short proposals. Memos may also be used as a tool to inform staff, management, or executives of important information. Two very good examples of this are the memos written regarding the 1978 Three Mile Island Disaster, and the 1985 Challenger Explosion. Both of these disasters were forewarned by employees and addressed by memos to superiors. Bert M. Dunn of Babcock and Wilcox Company wrote a memo to his management to inform them of a potential operator error occurring at the nuclear power plants that needed to be addressed. R. M. Boisjoly of Morton
It holds true that government organizations gradually decline; the enthusiasm is replaced with bureaucracy, employees are resistant to change and overall performance is decreased. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is no exception to this. NASA is an example of bureaucracy having a detrimental effect on an organization. The lines of communication became skewed and were often broken while the organization was locked in an internal battle over who exactly was in charge. While there were heads of each department and heads of each branch, critical information often slipped through the cracks. It was this breakdown in communication and the failure to address known issues that was the direct cause for both the Challenger and Columbia explosions. The explosions, though separated by seventeen years, were incredibly similar. Concerns had been brought to the table and similarly dismissed as “acceptable risk.” This acceptable risk proved fatal for the crews of both space shuttles. Bureaucracy and financial expediency led to reduced federal funding, general distrust from the public, and growing disinterest. The organization that sent men to the moon is vastly different than the organization in charge today. NASA’s beginnings were less clouded in red tape and bureaucratic policies. Ideas were
The author of the speech is the US president Ronald Reagan, who a few hours after the fall of the shuttle tried to comfort the grieving country by the emotional speech. The audience is the American nation, which was shocked by what happened. Over the last quarter century, scientists and astronauts made 55 US space missions, and their successful return to the Earth was perceived as a matter
In the speech that Ronald Reagan gave about the Space Shuttle Challenger gave peace of mind to the nation that was mourning about such a devastating event that they witnessed. The Space Shuttle Challenger was the first space shuttle that had a normal person on it and was going to be a huge leap forward for the space program. But the shuttle had a malfunction and blew up during the employment of going into space. They were not sure what exactly happened when it blew up, they just knew that the whole nation just witnessed a tragic event live on the radio and television. It was Ronald Reagan’s job to address the grieving public about what happened and to express their condolences, but also express their strength that would carry the nation through.
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.
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
As a result, Reagan’s popularity slipped from 67 percent to 46 percent in less than a week (Mayer). By the time, it was the low point of the Reagan presidency (157, Ehrman) Add to this situation, the failure of space program led to negative ethos of Reagan in public’s mind. President Reagan understood this situation and tried to calm the hostilities by delivering the speech sincerely.
The case study I chose to analyze was the Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion by Ronald C. Kramer. Kramer discussed four main components that led to the catastrophic explosion. These components include the societal context, the final flaw, the persons behind the final decision to launch, and lastly the failure of social control mechanisms. There was not just one factor that led to the failure of the launch. As Kramer discusses the different concepts that led to the failure point to state-corporate crime as a private business and government agency interacted.
As the world was evolving and becoming something new there was competition in being the best.The race to space, it had been going on for a while, tied to the cold war meant this was on the minds of many around the country. The challenger was a space shuttle meant to change the face of America, but only to be remembered as the space shuttle that exploded. “After the Challenger accident, NASA put in a lot of time to improve the safety of the space shuttle to fix the things that had gone wrong.” As told by Sally ride the first women to have gone to space. The Challenger held a crew of seven, all who were gone in 73 seconds after lift off along with the shuttle. America was mortified for what they had seen before their eyes. It was as much as a sad loss as a defeat. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4JOjcDFtBE)