Yes, I'm well aware this has nothing to do with animals at all. I wrote this and delivered it today in front of my NJROTC company, and it was very well-received.

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Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster 30th Anniversary Speech

Thirty years ago today – Tuesday the 28th of January, 1986, at 11:38 AM – the Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On board were seven crewmembers: Commander Francis R. Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialist Ellison S. Onizuka, Mission Specialist Judith A. Resnik, Mission Specialist Ronald E. McNair, Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, and Payload Specialist and teacher S. Christa McAuliffe. The mission was to deploy a satellite to study Halley's Comet, however the main focus was McAuliffe; her trip was widely publicized for her position as the first non-military civilian to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, and was called the “Teacher in Space” project. Once in orbit, she would conduct lessons for students watching live from Earth, to teach them about space and various aspects thereof. The shuttle was planned to return to Earth on the 3rd of February, after completing 96 orbits over. Approximately 41.4 million people, children and adults alike, were watching the historic launch televised live.

73 seconds after liftoff, the rocket booster violently exploded, destroying the Challenger orbiter, and killing the seven crewmembers. The nation was in shock – This was the 25th Space Shuttle launch, and nothing like this had ever happened before. What happened? Nobody knew what went wrong; they could only watch the horrific scene play out in front of them. To many, it felt like an effect from a movie, but this was no fantasy – they had just seen seven people lose their lives in what was, and very likely still is, the largest accident with a spacebound crew.

President Ronald Reagan was preparing to give his sixth State Of The Union address, scheduled for that night, when he learned of the disaster. He postponed the speech – the first and only President to do so – to address the nation on the disaster. Written by his speechwriter, he opened with, “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.” He declared, “This is truly a national loss.” He spoke with true emotion, honoring the fallen crew, comforting their families and the nation together. “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them." Three days later, the President and his wife traveled to Johnson Space Center and spoke to nearly ten thousand people at a memorial service for the crew. He stated there “Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain.”

True to President Reagan's word, we, thirty years later, have not forgotten this terrible tragedy. We have likely all seen the footage, or heard of the disaster at some point; some of us may even remember the disaster occurring. In 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred, the Challenger was mentioned extensively as well, and as that happened in likely all of our lifetimes, the disaster is still well-known. And even three decades after it happened, the seven crewmembers – Scobee, Smith, Onizuka, Resnik, McNair, Jarvis, and McAuliffe – still live on, in the memories of those who witnessed the disaster, and as pioneers of exploration, bravery, and courage.