Reagans Will Attend Services for Shuttle Crew

President Reagan will attend memorial services in Houston on Friday for the seven crew members killed in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, the White House announced today.

The services will be held at the Johnson Space Center, spokesman Larry Speakes told reporters. The President will be accompanied by his wife, Nancy.

Speakes also said Reagan was telephoning relatives of the victims “as he’s able to reach them” and will send a written message to the students at Concord High School in Concord, N.H., where Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was killed, taught.

Speakes said the possibility of Reagan’s going to Concord had been considered, but the White House decided, after consulting with school officials, that a written message would be more appropriate.

Reagan vowed to press on with exploration in space.

‘Life Has to Go On’

“Life has to go on and so does the space program,” Reagan told reporters in the Oval Office after announcing appointment of Richard Lyng as agriculture secretary.

Asked to describe his feelings in the aftermath of the disaster, Reagan said, “They are still much as they were yesterday,” although he added, “I think all of us have kind of escaped the numbness of shock that we all felt.”

Speakes said Vice President George Bush, reporting to the President today on his visit to Cape Canaveral after the explosion, relayed to Reagan the request of June Scobee, wife of shuttle pilot Francis R. Scobee, to “please do not let this stop the shuttle program.”

Bush also gave Reagan a “very detailed report” of what the space agency told him on his Tuesday evening trip to the launch site.

Until the cause of the accident becomes clearer, Reagan will receive daily briefings from National Security Council aide Jerry May, who is the White House liaison with the space agency, Speakes said.