Video: 'Challenger: President Reagan's Challenger Disaster Speech - 1/28/86'

(Tuesday, January 28, 1986, 5:00 p.m. EST) — U.S. President Ronald Reagan, saying “today is a day for mourning and remembering,” postponed the State of the Union speech he had planned for tonight because of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

In brief, nationally televised remarks from the Oval Office late this afternoon, Reagan, described by his aides as shaken by the disaster, promised “to 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,” he said. “This is truly a national loss. We mourn seven heroes. We mourn their loss as a nation together.”

“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives,” Reagan concluded. “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 to touch the face of God.”

Video: 'CBS News - Challenger disaster (Jan 28, 1986)'