The final flight of the Challenger Space Shuttle is a story of pure excitement and terror. Seven brave astronauts ascended into the sky on the cold morning of January 28th, 1986, powered by two solid rocket boosters. 73 seconds into the flight, however, the shuttle's external tank exploded, and the once breathtaking sight of a rocket launching became a terrifying cloud of debris. Following the disaster, President Ronald Reagan attempted to alleviate the pain of a nation and families, despite not knowing what had happened. Unfortunately, a deeper investigation into the events of the short flight and previous recommendations given to NASA reveals that the so-called accident was a true disaster due to many factors that did not put the astronaut's …show more content…
At first glance, the Challenger disaster seems to be an accident that no one saw coming, but the unfortunate fact is that there were many opportunities to prevent the disaster. After the tragic events of the Challenger disaster, President Reagan addressed the nation with a thoughtful speech to express sympathy and reassurance to the families of the astronauts and the nation. The first half of the speech focuses on expressing the evident theme of sympathy for the families and people who were mourning the loss of the astronauts. The theme of sympathy is clear when Reagan says, “The families of the seven, we cannot bear the full impact of this tragedy.” (C-SPAN, 2016). A second theme that is evident in the speech is that of reassurance and hope. Reagan assures the families and nation that the quest for knowledge will continue despite the tragic disaster (C-SPAN, 2016). Reassuring the families that the Challenger crew’s sacrifice would not be in vain, but rather a stepping stone to expand the horizons of humanity. The speech consists of three main sections of noteworthy …show more content…
While the O-rings on the booster are what failed, the true cause of the accident was the failure to seriously consider the recommendations not to launch due to previously known issues. Failure to acknowledge the many concerns ultimately led to the death of the seven heroes aboard the Shuttle Challenger. The speech given by President Reagan following the disaster intricately described the emotions of the day and expressed sympathy to the families and hope for the future. By these words, the United States continued the quest for knowledge and exploration but learned the hard lesson of not heeding warnings and putting operational goals ahead of human lives, which led to a disaster. Works Cited for: C-SPAN. (2016). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' President Reagan on space shuttle Challenger explosion [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66mGwws7EEw&ab_channel=C-SPAN Lucchesi, E. L. (2021, October 25). Looking back at the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Astronomy. The. https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/looking-back-at-the-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster/
On January 28, 1986 President Ronald Reagan delivered his speech on The Challenger Disaster; hours after the space shuttle The Challenger exploded while in take off. There were hundreds of spectators supporting this ‘First Teacher in Space’ program and thousands across the country glued to their T.V.s who witnessed this horrifying event. The mission was very unique allowing the first teacher to ever be allowed in space during a mission. She was aboard The Challenger as an observer in the NASA Teacher
When looking at that, there are some questions to be asked, did Roger Boisjoly act ethically as a whistle-blower? Was Boisjoly treated fairly by Morton Thiokol? Could the managers of Morton Thiokol have done anything differently? To start, did Boisjoly act ethically? In my opinion, Boisjoly did all that he could to prevent the launch of the Challenger. He informed his managers of the defect and the probability of an explosion. He consulted all internal channels