Twenty years ago today.. .

73 seconds after launch, the Space Shuttle "Challenger" burst apart, killing the entire crew. I remember that the space shuttle launches had become almost routine. No one thought that there was any problems; after all, we were Americans. There was nothing that we couldn't do, no scientific marvel that we couldn't accomplish. We were going to put a civilian, a teacher into space.

It didn't happen.

Later that night, President Reagan addressed the nation, and he said (among other things) this:

". . . 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" to "touch the face of God."