‘Reach for the Stars’ : Reagan Leads U.S. in Bidding Crew Farewell

HOUSTON —  President Reagan led the nation Friday in bidding farewell to the crew of the space shuttle Challenger, remembering each of the fallen crew members as they lived and evoking tears of pride and sadness from the thousands of mourners gathered on a grassy mall at the Johnson Space Center here.

As he recited a roll call of the dead, Reagan used only their first names, reflecting the intensely personal loss suffered by the country in Tuesday’s accident.

Program to Continue

At the same time, the President pledged that the shuttle program would continue, a request that he said every family member he had spoken to had specifically made. (Text of Reagan address, Page 11.)

“Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short,” the President said. “But we must pick ourselves up again and press on, despite the pain.”

Under a mask of lead-gray clouds that reflected the somberness of the occasion, Reagan eulogized each of the seven.

“Ron, we will miss your saxophone, and we will build your space station,” the President said as family members wept and crew member Ronald E. McNair’s baby daughter fidgeted in a front-row seat.

Recalls Danger, Medals

Reagan recalled commander Francis R. (Dick) Scobee’s long familiarity with danger, pilot Michael J. Smith’s chestful of medals for combat flying, Judith A. Resnik’s talent as a classical pianist, Ellison S. Onizuka’s dreams of traveling to the moon and how Gregory Jarvis had carefully stowed his college flag on the ill-fated flight as “a small token . . . to the people who unlocked his future.”

And of Christa McAuliffe, the first citizen-teacher to travel in space, the President said she “captured the imagination of the entire nation, inspiring us with her pluck, her restless spirit of discovery.”

When Reagan took his seat after his brief remarks, Jane Smith, the widow of pilot Smith, whispered, “Thank you.”

Throughout the service, First Lady Nancy Reagan held the hand of June Scobee in an attempt to soothe the sobbing widow of the shuttle’s commander.

The service was held on the 28th anniversary of the day America first sent a satellite into space.

Words of Solace

Before the service, the Reagans met privately with 25 of the crew’s family members and close friends, exchanging hugs and offering words of solace to each of them.

When it was time to go outside for the ceremony, Reagan declared: “I wish there was something I could say to make it easier, but there just aren’t any words. We sorrow more for ourselves and in the fact that we will miss them. This should be tempered by the joy that they are receiving the blessings God reserved for them. We shall all see them together again.”

It was a theme he returned to in his public remarks, apologizing for the inadequacy of words to convey the depth of feeling experienced by the nation at the death of the teacher and astronauts in the fiery explosion of the Challenger just 73 seconds after launching.

‘Shadow of Grief’

“Words pale in the shadow of grief,” Reagan said, describing the “exhilaration turned to horror” as the reality of the space tragedy unfolded on television screens nationwide.

As Reagan spoke, 8-year-old Erin Smith sat numbly, clutching a teddy bear that wore a pink apron. Lorna Onizuka buried her head on her brother-in-law’s shoulder. Some of the mourners tried to hide their emotions from probing cameras with sunglasses.

But when, as the service ended, NASA T-38 jets screamed overhead in the traditional “missing man formation” to signal the loss of one of their own, the floodgates of emotion opened and even veteran astronauts wept openly.

Then the Reagans walked up and down the front row, consoling the families. Mrs. Reagan dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, and the President’s anguish was evident as he enveloped Onizuka’s distraught 16-year-old daughter, Janelle Mitsue, in a bear hug.

The Resniks were the only family not represented at Friday’s service. A family spokesman explained that a large number of relatives was gathering in Akron, Ohio, Resnik’s home.

Steve McAuliffe, the husband of Christa McAuliffe, was not accompanied by the couple’s two young children.

Friday’s simple memorial service took place in front of NASA Building 16, a plain, two-story white structure where the space shuttle prototype was developed. The park-like area is normally used by NASA workers to play Frisbee and has been the scene of past victory celebrations.

Trained at Complex

The Challenger crew had trained for months in the complex and the seven had become a familiar sight to workers. “Everybody knows someone who was directly involved one way or another,” said Debbi Worby, an administrator for Martin Marietta Corp.

Worby was one of 3,000 NASA and space contractors’ employees who stood solemnly behind yellow ropes just beyond the immediate ceremonial site to pay their respects. The service was closed to the public.

Fifteen hundred folding chairs were set up to accommodate the mourners, among whom were two Air Force planes full of dignitaries from Washington, including Sens. John Glenn (D-Ohio) and Jake Garn (R-Utah), both veterans of space, and Rep. Don Fuqua (D-Fla.), chairman of the House committee that oversees NASA.

The late President John F. Kennedy’s children, John Jr. and Caroline, accompanied their uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). Having experienced a similar sudden tragedy when their father was assassinated in 1963, the young Kennedys had asked to attend as an expression of their kinship with the crew members’ families.