里根于1986年悼念“挑戰(zhàn)者”號宇航員的演講

1986年悼念“挑戰(zhàn)者”號宇航員的演講

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. However, we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight. We’ve never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. However, they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobey, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy.”They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.

We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s take-off. I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. 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. In addition, what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We do not hide our space program. We do not keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That is the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute.

We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.

I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA, or who worked on this mission and tell them: “Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it.”

There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime, the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said,“He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.”Well, today, we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.

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, waved goodbye, and“slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”

Thank you.

女士們、先生們：本來我打算今天晚上向你們宣讀國情咨文，但今天早些時候發(fā)生的事件讓我改變了計劃。今天是哀悼和懷念的日子。南希和我為“挑戰(zhàn)者號”航天飛機的悲劇感到至為痛心。我們知道全體國人人同此心。這真是國人的損失。

十九年前，幾乎是同一天，在一次可怕的地面事故中，我們喪失了三名宇航員。然而，我們從未在飛行中喪失過宇航員，從未經(jīng)歷過這樣的災(zāi)難。也許我們已經(jīng)忘記航天飛機機組人員需要多么大的勇氣，但是挑戰(zhàn)者七壯士深知其中的危險，他們堅韌不拔，出色地履行了自己的職責(zé)。我們悼念七位英雄：邁克爾·史密斯、迪克·斯科比、朱迪恩·倫斯尼克、羅納德·賣克奈爾、埃利森·奧尼祖卡、格雷戈里·賈維斯、克麗斯塔·麥考利夫。我們舉國哀悼失去的英雄。

雖然我們不能像這七名宇航員的家人那樣感受這場災(zāi)難的打擊。但是我們感受到了損失，我們認為你們一定也是如此。你們的親人勇敢無畏，他們卓越的魅力和人格精神告訴我們：“請給予我挑戰(zhàn)，我要滿懷喜悅的去迎接。”他們渴望探索宇宙，渴望揭開宇宙的奧秘。他們希望盡職，他們做到了。他們?yōu)槲覀兯械娜吮M了職。

這個世紀我們對奇跡已習(xí)以為常，很難有什么會使我們贊嘆不已，但是美國航天計劃二十五年來做的正是如此。我們對太空計劃已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常，也許已經(jīng)忘了我們不過剛剛起步，我們?nèi)匀皇情_拓者。他們——挑戰(zhàn)者號全體機組人員是開拓者。

我要對觀看航天飛機發(fā)射直播的美國學(xué)童說幾句話。我知道這件事情令你們難以理解，但有時像這樣令人痛苦的事確實會發(fā)生。這些都是探索和發(fā)現(xiàn)過程的一部分，這些都是承擔(dān)風(fēng)險和拓展人類世界范圍的一部分。未來不屬于弱者，未來屬于強者。挑戰(zhàn)者號全體人員把我們推向未來，我們將繼續(xù)追隨他們。

我一直對我們的航天計劃充滿信心并懷抱敬意，今天發(fā)生的悲劇決不會削弱它。我們沒有隱藏自己的航天計劃，我們沒有保密和隱瞞，我們堂堂正正地公開實施它。這正是自由的方式，我們一分鐘也不會改變它。

我們將繼續(xù)探索太空。我們將有更多次的航天飛行，有更多的宇航員，更多的志愿者，更多的平民，更多的教師進入太空。一切都不會到此為止。我們的希望和我們的旅程不會停步。

我還想說，但愿我能與每一位為國家航空航天局，或者為完成此次使命而工作的人談話，告訴他們：“幾十年來，你們的奉獻和敬業(yè)精神令我們感動，讓我們銘記在心。我們了解你們的痛苦。我們感同身受。”

今天是一個巧合。三百九十年前的今天，偉大的探險家佛朗西斯·德雷克勛爵在巴拿馬附近海面的一條船上逝去。在他生活的時代，最大的疆界就是海洋。后來一位歷史學(xué)家說：“他生在海邊，死在海上，葬在海里。”今天對于“挑戰(zhàn)者”號宇航員我們可以這樣說：像德雷克一樣，他們的奉獻是毫無保留的。

“挑戰(zhàn)者”號航天飛機宇航員的生命歷程給我們帶來榮耀，我們永遠不會忘記他們，也不會忘記今天早上最后一次見到他們，那時他們正準備上路，揮手告別，“掙脫大地堅固的束縛，去觸摸上帝的臉”。

謝謝各位。