[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[January 26, 1996]
[Page 103]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the 10th Anniversary of the Loss of the Space Shuttle 
Challenger
January 26, 1996

    Ten years ago this week, our nation and the world were stunned and 
saddened by the loss of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger. A 
decade later, we are still moved by the memory of the Challenger Seven 
and honor the extraordinary sacrifice they made for our country.
    Throughout our history, pioneers have dared to dream and live life 
to the fullest. Like the pathfinders and explorers of our earliest days, 
like the settlers who pushed our boundaries westward, like the pilots 
who first took to the air, or the Apollo astronauts who lost their lives 
in pursuit of President Kennedy's visionary call to reach the moon, the 
Challenger astronauts believed in themselves and in their mission. They 
believed in the quest for knowledge and the pursuit of discovery. And 
each of them--including a special school teacher who touched America's 
heart, Christa McAuliffe--possessed the rare courage of those willing to 
risk much to achieve great things.
    The people of our space program still carry with them the memory of 
the Challenger astronauts and keep alive in their daily striving the 
spirit of the friends and colleagues they lost on that tragic day. 
Today, our space program is still strong, the Shuttles continue to 
broaden our horizons, the frontiers of knowledge continue to expand, and 
the dream of exploration, as we find at Challenger Education Centers 
around the country, lives on.
    We have been fortunate to view our world from the vastness of space, 
and we owe a lasting debt of gratitude to the Challenger Seven and all 
those who have taught and still teach us about our place in the cosmos. 
For, as T.S. Eliot wrote:

      We shall not cease from exploration
      And the end of all our exploring
      Will be to arrive where we started
      And know the place for the first time.

                                                      William J. Clinton

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