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“The Space Shuttle “Challenger” Tragedy Address”

Ronald Reagan

28/01/1986

Первая речь будет печальной. Как и вторая и третья. 28 января 1986 года НАСА запустило в космос шаттл «Челленджер», и он взорвался на 73 секунде полета. Все космонавты погибли.

У НАСА и раньше были катастрофы, но с шаттлом такое случилось впервые. Как потом выяснили, шаттл стартовал в слишком холодную погоду, и некоторые детали сработали не так, как надо, и поэтому произошел взрыв. Сообщать об этом своей нации пришлось тогдашнему президенту США Рональду Рейгану. Речь у него вышла трогательная, но даже в таких условиях Рейган не преминул кинуть пару камней в Советский Союз, с которым господин президент был в больших контрах.

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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 |скорби| and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core |буквально – болим до центра. Лучше – страдаем до глубины души| 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 |в тот же день|, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground |Рейган говорит о пожаре на Аполлоне-1, когда еще до старта в пожаре погибли три астронавта|. But 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. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, 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 |буквально – вынести. Здесь – прочувствовать|, 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 |смелые| 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 |Мы привыкли к| the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers |первооткрыватели|. 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 |слабым в сердце|; 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. And what happened today does nothing to diminish |преуменьшить| it. We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up |Мы не прячем и не скрываем нашу космическую программу. Рейган делает популистский реверанс в сторону СССР, где все космические дела были очень засекречены|. We do it all up front |открыто| and in public. That’s 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. |больше гражданских лиц, больше учителей. Впервые одним из членов экипажа космического корабля был не профессиональный космонавт, а гражданское лицо – учительница Криста Маколифф, которая в целях пиара космических полетов должна была провести урок с орбиты. Рейган в своей речи говорит именно о ней. Кстати, хотите еще «забавный» факт? Некто Стив Джобс также подавал заявку в НАСА на участие в миссии «Челленждера», но проиграл конкурс Кристе| 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 |страдание|. We share it.”

There’s a coincidence |совпадение| today. On this day three hundred and ninety years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off |на борту корабля недалеко от| 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, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” |сбросили земные оковы| to “touch the face of God.”

Thank you.