October, 2014

Saving NASA

By: Nicole Bienert

     On January 28, 1986, a spacecraft called Challenger was launched into space. It was the 25th mission of NASA’s STS program and the goal was to deploy the second tracking and data relay satellite as well as the Spartan Halley’s Comet observer. (Forrest) A crew of six astronauts and one civilian teacher manned the spacecraft. Schoolchildren from all over the United States were watching Challenger take off waiting to hear the teacher Christa McAuliffe give live lessons from space. The Challenger shuttle took flight, rocketed upward for 73 seconds, and then exploded. Fire spewed from the shuttle, menacing clouds appeared, and the ship ripped apart. All seven crewmembers died.

     The event was caught on live television, so word spread like lightning and the country was shocked. Then there was the troubling realization that thousands of children had witnessed this traumatic event in school. (Blank) The American people’s initial shock would quickly turned to anger, and the effects of this outrage could be devastating to NASA. The challenger explosion seemed to have set a course for history that would cause NASA to shut down.

     Speeches are a powerful thing; powerful enough to change the course of history. One of the most effective speeches of all time was born that day: the Challenger Address delivered by Ronald Regan. Rather than allowing citizen shock to turn to outrage, Regan’s speech managed to effectively “channel emotion to determination.” (Apple) This speech’s success is partially due to the efficient use of organization, ethos, logos, and pathos.

     The organization of this speech was crucial. Regan had to avoid moving on from mourning too quickly, because then he would appear insensitive to his audience (average American citizens) and his ethos would be ruined. If he spent too much time mourning then the listener may be too depressed to hear an actual message in the speech. Regan properly organized his speech to lead in with mourning, then move on to honoring the astronauts, to celebrating their bravery, onto celebrating their just cause, and concluding with a decision to continue their cause. The speech flows well and slowly manipulates the listener’s emotions to land them on the conclusion to continue space exploration. The cautious way in which Reagan presented his ideas to the audience promoted acceptance and discouraged rejection. Furthermore, Regan scattered words such as god, freedom, pioneers, heroes, and brave throughout his speech to appeal to the American audience without being overbearing. The organization was important to bring the audience to the desired conclusion of continuing NASA exploration.

     Regan utilizes an appeal to pathos throughout the speech. He meets the American people where they stand by mourning the loss of seven heroes. He continuously uses words like tragic, terrible, and loss. Regan says that “We share this pain.” By mourning the loss Regan is connecting himself to how the audience feels. The audience is ready to lean on Regan for support and condolences and listen to what he has to say. Regan utilized pathos to connect himself to the audience and have them willingly listen.

     Reagan’s ethos contribute to the success of the speech. Reagan was revered, trusted, and seen as a citizen to whom Americans could connect. He was often called the “Great Communicator,” and people trusted what he said. (Cannon) As the president, Regan was naturally credible. Regan states, “We don’t keep secrets and cover things up.” This not only makes the audience feel privileged to hear about the challenger address, but it also adds to the trust in Regan. He also says, “I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it.” Since Regan established excellent ethos the audience readily trusts this decision. Due to the well-established ethos the audience accepts what Regan says and support his decisions.

     Regan frequently utilizes logos to reassure the audience. He reminds the audience that NASA is accomplishing wonderful things, and that the challenger heroes died for a good cause. He points out that the astronauts knew the risks. Since the astronauts thought the NASA program was worth their lives, we shouldn’t think that NASA isn’t worth it. Regan states, “They wished to serve, and they did.” The connotation of the word serve relates the astronauts to soldiers. It is accepted that soldiers die for a good cause and that their death doesn’t stop the cause. This relation shows that the astronauts’ deaths is acceptable and shouldn’t stop NASA’s cause. Finally Regan says, “The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them… Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.” This statement makes it clear that it was the astronauts’ wish to continue NASA exploration and that it is our duty to honor their wish. Rather than saying their hopes and their journeys, Regan says our to emphasize a feeling of union among the nation and astronauts. Regan’s statement makes it seem like the astronauts will live on in us if we continue to support NASA exploration. Regan’s use of logos was subtle, yet very important in the Challenger Address.

     The Challenger Address was one of the most effective and influential speeches dues to its utilization of organization, ethos, logos, and pathos. The organization slowly manipulated the listener’s emotions. Pathos helped to connect the president to the American people. Ethos made Regan credible and a trustable source of information and decisions in times of shock. Logos subtly bring the listeners to a desired conclusion. These different aspects of rhetoric land the audience on the conclusion that NASA space exploration should continue.

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Works Cited

Apple, R. The Shuttle Explosion; President as Healer. The New York Times. 29 Jan. 1986. Web.

Blank, Trevor. Reflections on the Challenger Disaster 25 Years Later. Antenna. McNutt, Myles. 28 Jan. 2011. WordPress, University of Wisconsin. 8 Sept. 2012. Web.

Cannon, Lou. Actor, Governor, President, Icon. The Washington Post. 6 June. 2004: A1.

Forrester, Jeff. The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: A failure in decision support system and human factors management. DSSResources. Power, Daniel. 7 Oct. 2005. Metropolitan State College. 8 Sept. 2012. Web.

Ronald Reagan addresses the nation after the 1986 Challenger accident. C-SPAN White House. 2012. National Cable Satellite Corporation. 8 Sept. 2012. Web.