On this day in 1986, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation following the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger. President Reagan had been preparing to deliver his annual State of the Union Address, but in the hours after the shuttle exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff, he made the decision to postpone it. Instead, that evening, he spoke candidly from the Oval Office to a grieving nation—millions of whom, including schoolchildren, had watched the launch live. Listen to his full wo