Anguish

Rhymes with fish…and is just as wet because it involves a lot of crying. It's a fancy way of saying really, really sad. So sad it hurts.

Astronauts

Derived from Greek words meaning "starsailor"—which sounds like an awesome anime show we want to watch right now—astronaut is the American name for anyone who travels to space, though they're often trained by a human spaceflight program first.

Bonds

Bonds. Earthly Bonds.

In the context of this speech, the world is not enough, as the Challenger Seven not only escaped the planet's gravitational field, but also attempted the superhuman feat of entering the heavenly spheres.

Challenger Seven

No, it's not the name of a 24-hour gas station, it's the name posthumously given to the space shuttle Challenger crew: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.

Fainthearted

A quality of timidity and helplessness. Being fainthearted sometimes involves a lot of breathing into a paper bag.

Frontiers

The edge of the great unknown. Think Alaska. Think Antarctica. Think that one crisper drawer in your parents' refrigerator that hasn't been opened since First Lady Nancy Reagan appeared on Sesame Street.

NASA

An acronym for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Not to be confused with NASCAR.

Panama

The tiny country resembling a chicken wing dangling off the southern tip of Central America.

Pioneers

Finders-keepers. Sort of.

Pioneers are considered the first people in a specific location or area. (Unless that area is already occupied by others who have been there for centuries…semantics, you know?) They often stake claim to their discoveries and pave the way for more to come.

Quest

Reagan's way of making space research sound epic. Which, to be fair, isn't hard. Space research is epic.

Shuttle

Spaceship! (It's impossible to write the word "spaceship!" without following it with an exclamation mark. They're just that cool.)

Shuttle Crews

The people on the spaceship: for example, the Challenger Seven. They usually don't get special names unless something bad happens.

State of the Union

A really important speech given by the president to the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and the American people. It usually happens once a year and is lazily abbreviated as SOTU.

Surly

Mostly it means grumpy, but in the context of this speech it means something more like "lordly" or "overbearing." Think of it like Earth is a controlling hoarder...a hoarder of people.

United States Space Program

NASA, baby. 'Nuff said.