America, even immediately right after the tragedy supported the continued support of NASA and specifically manned space exploration. The same poll also found 75 percent of Americans felt that America should continue with manned space probes with 17 percent saying that America should switch entirely to unmanned probes. The cynicism of Van Allen can be found during any era of exploration of a new frontier. Some Europeans during the 15th and 16th century surely felt that there was no need to venture to the new world. But lucky for the world most people disagreed.
Space is our new world.
President Reagan spoke to the nation on the night of the tragedy. His words united America, and expressed much of the sentiments that everyone felt. The Challenger Explosion was Generation X's Kennedy Assassination. Many people feel that the youth who grew up in the sixties lost their childhood when Kennedy was assassinated. The assignation forced children to deal with the realities of the real world.