What Is The Importance Of Reagan's Ethos In The Space Shuttle Challenger Speech

Throughout the text, Reagan uses tone to express his pride for America. When he says “But oddly enough it starts with one of the things i’m proudest of in the past eight years: the resurgence of National Pride that I called the new patriotism. This

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 adds his feelings of faith and respect in our space program and the people at NASA who make it possible. He goes on to assure that space exploration will continue. While addressing the school children who were watching, Reagan states that "the future belongs to the brave." He also states unfortunately painful things like this sometimes happen and sadly it is all part of the process of exploration and discovery(Reagan)”. He ends his speech with a beautifully articulated conclusion. ”The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, or 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(Reagan).” “The last line was taken from a sonnet written by WWII pilot John Gillespie Magee titled "High Flight", but was a very memorable way to end the speech.

Though connecting the speaker, the audience, and the subject are important for an author, it is also crucial to use literary appeals to draw in readers successfully. One of the appeals used- ethos- shows Safire’s credibility when he was the president’s speechwriter. In addition, logos, which appeals to readers through logic, was displayed since the speech was mourning the astronauts. The mood of what was supposed to be a joyous event becomes somber in that the president has to state the unimaginable disaster that could’ve happened. With this, the author uses pathos by honoring the two astronauts for their mettle and stating that all of America would be mourning them. Also, the tone becomes solemn and encouraging because the author displays the pathos in that way. Safire includes that “ in their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man” which makes the reader feel sad but proud to have such men to “serve” the

He also includes a lot of emotional parts throughout the speech this is effective as it may get an emotional response from the audience this happens when he says “Your loved ones were daring and brave” and “It is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen” this is a good use of pathos as it does connect to the emotional feelings of the viewer.

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

Ronald Reagan was an inspirational speaker who planted hope in the minds of Americans through his speeches. He echoed throughout the streets of this democracy what true revolutionary ideas were. His ideas and beliefs rang true within the hearts of our fellow country-men as proven by his landslide second term victory. One of his most famous speeches, his First Inaugural Address, was spoken when he won the race for Presidency in 1980. President Reagan wanted to inspire the American people and inform them of how he planned to run the United States of America. He was not only speaking to his fellow citizens, but

One of the significant events of Reagan that influenced public was Iran-Contra affair in 1986, which the United States was found guilty by the International Court of Justice of war crimes against Nicaragua. 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 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

As discussed earlier, approximately 17 percent of Americans witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle on live broadcast and the rest soon learned about the tragic event through newspaper, radio or television. The whole country was in shock, grief and fear. That’s why Reagan chose to address to all of American people at the beginning of this speech “we share this pain with all of the people of our country” and “this is truly a national loss.”

On January 28, 1996, the NASA shuttle orbiter mission STS-51-L and the tenth flight of Space Shuttle Orbiter broke apart 23 seconds after its launch, making it one of the most important events in the history of spaceflight in terms of its aftermath on the audience who witnessed the explosion. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, claiming the lives of seven crew members. It was later found that two rubber O-rings had failed because of the cold temperatures on the morning of the liftoff. Family, friends, and millions of T.V viewers witnessed the explosion, which led president Ronald Reagan to address the accident. Reagan planned to give his State of the Union Address, but after learning of the Space Shuttle disaster he postponed it for a week and addressed the nation at the Oval Office late afternoon. By using rhetorical appeals in his address to the nation, Reagan effectively addresses the nation and crews’ families about the explosion while comforting, inspiring, and honoring the views through the use of rhetoric.

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.

President Reagan read his speech in public with so much care for the people and their families. Some examples that shows that he cares is that in the first paragraph he says “We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country”. This part of speech says a lot because he is referring to that the deaths of the astronauts has not been hard on the families but also on the country. President Reagan wants the audience and the crowd watching to feel the pain and also the astronauts were brave enough to go up in mission without caring about the consequences.

One of the greatest tragedies in history occurred on January 8, 1986. Shortly after it was launched, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, killing seven astronauts, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire schoolteacher chosen to be the first teacher in space (“Challenger Disaster, n.d.). The explosion was caused by a failure of the O-rings of the solid rocket boosters. The O-rings were unable to seat properly, causing the leaking of hot combustion gases, which burnt through the external fuel tank. The malfunction was not any one person’s or organization’s fault; it was caused by many factors including the decision to launch despite the cold weather, the poor communication between management levels of the National Aeronautics and