gap was going to be there regardless. and on that note, roger, all three of you please stay with me. the president stepping up to the podium. let s listen to his remarks. good morning, everyone. on april 5th the united states suffered the worst mine disaster in more than a generation. 29 lives were lost, families have been devastated, communities have been upended and during this painful time all of us are mourning with the people of montcoal and whitesville and naoma and the coal river valley. the people of west virginia are in our prayers. but we owe them more than prayers. we owe them action. we owe them accountability. we owe them an assurance that when they go to work every day, when they enter that dark mine, they re not alone. they ought to know that behind them there is a company that s doing what it takes to protect them and a government that is looking out for their safety.
path to actually get us exploring space again as well as using the space station. so i m cautiously, guardedly optimistic about the new plan. roger, i promise i ll let you weigh in. we ll take a quick break and continue our discussion. we ll talk more about nasa s legacy and this bold, new path as mary ellen points out and some of the moments that we wished never happened, but we ll never forget. we re back in 60 seconds. [ crowd cheering ] [ male announcer ] competition. it pushes us to work harder. to be better.
have main engine start, four, three, two, one and liftoff, liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission and it has cleared the tower. but we also remember the dangers and sacrifices. apollo 1, the challenger and columbia. president obama unveils the next step. a new focus later this afternoon. we want to talk more about nasa s future and the past. in dallas, maryanne webber. she flew two shuttle missions and she s in arlington, vermont. space historian and journalist. roger hannaberg. let s go ahead, mary ellen and start with you, 297 orbits around the earth. just for a moment tell us all what that feels like. what goes through your mind? what you observe, what you remember the most? spaceflight is an incredible, incredible, indescribable experience. it s overwhelming what it takes
to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america s beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. together with schools, we re helping kids make more balanced choices every day. let s get back to our space discussion. i want to take a moment to talk about moments we can never forget, but we definitely need to remember. with me former astronaut, mary ellen weber, space policy expert, roger hanburg. before we get to that, though, roger, i want to bring you in on this discussion. actually, mary ellen and andrew, taking exception to some points that were being made. you know, bottom line, the