On January 28, 1986, a NASA space shuttle named Challenger was scheduled to launch on its space mission. Unfortunately, the booster engine failed and caused the shuttle to break apart just seconds after launch, costing the lives of seven astronauts. That same day, President Reagan delivered an immediate public address, televised nationwide, on the devastating Challenger shuttle incident. Surprisingly, whenever someone asked those who remembered watching the speech, they were most likely to say "that's a great speech" or "that's an eloquent speech" or even "it's a great speech." "It's the best speech Ronald Reagan ever gave." Watching the speech from former President Reagan's Challenger Address, it is clear that the former president was trying to use his national address to comfort American citizens about the tragic incident of the Challenger space shuttle explosion . However, this speech was not only comforting to Americans of the time, but it also demonstrated President Reagan's superior ability to turn a tragic rhetorical situation into an opportunity. Nonetheless, in order to better understand how President Reagan's Challenger speech gained its popularity and sympathy among Americans, it is essential to look back at the rhetorical situation at the time and break down how President Reagan's speech was pronounced and his style. Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay As soon as the Space Shuttle was dismantled, concerns about NASA's ability to develop spacecraft and doubts about whether or not America should continue its expansion into foreign spacecraft programs space research has emerged. At the same time, the tragedy also sparked heartbreaking emotion across the country. Against this rhetorical backdrop, President Reagan responded by delivering an address to the nation at the White House, targeting Americans as his audience. Additionally, President Reagan also used his beloved public speaking style to offer his condolences and a strong message in defense of NASA and why America must continue its research in space. The first reason why the Challenger speech left such a tremendous impression among Americans is that the speech is aimed at the right audience. At a time when the shuttle was dismantled in front of the American people, it is essential to first comfort the population in order to prevent the emotion of distrust from growing further. So within hours, President Reagan appeared on television and recreated a speech describing what exactly had happened, the government's condolences, and what the government and NASA planned to do next. Finally, President Reagan left a powerful statement at the end of his speech, saying, “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 does not belong to the faint of heart. It belongs to the brave” (Challenger Speech). Through President Reagan's speech, the government was able to comfort worried citizens by providing them with transparent information about the tragedy, while giving citizens reason and confidence to believe that the government knew what it was doing and that the courageous astronaut mentality had to be adopted. along. At this point, the.