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From President Reagan, January 28, 1886:

"... The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives.

We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

God Bless the Challenger crew and Ronaldl Wilson Reagan.

"... The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

I hear that on a Kenny G album i listen to at Christmas time and that has to be the most powerful line i have ever heard a person saying in one sentence. God Bless Ronald Reagan and may God Bless those victims and their families still struggling with the loss.

I was in 3rd grade and they wheeled a TV in to show us, I cant remember if it was a replay or live but it was very sad. As young as we were, it hit us all very hard.

"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

Last spring, I was on a cruise to Mexico (from Houston) and met a fascinating man who worked during "The Agency" for the Apollo years and beyond. After a few drinks, and after he learned what a student I am of the space program history, he shared a few confidences (he was fighting cancer at the time, 'though I didn't know it).

One secret was about a superficial scandal relating to an Apollo astronaut's divorce and such, and the payoffs and mafia-like threats and payoffs needed to make a disgruntled ex-(or soon-to-be-ex)-wife go away.

The other was that he had heard the tapes of the audio downlink from the Challenger spacecraft after the explosion, but before the crew cabin impacted with the ocean surface. All I know from the conversation is that the crew DID survive the explosion.

God bless them.