Johnson Center Flooded With Flowers, Sorrow, Sympathy : Reagan to Lead Official Mourning Today

With outpourings of flowers and tears, pleas for privacy and expressions of gratitude for grief shared, the nation and the families of the space shuttle Challenger crew Thursday made ready for one last goodby to the seven crew members.

From Concord, N.H., home of schoolteacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe, to Houston, Tex., command center of America’s manned spaceflight program, where President and Mrs. Reagan will lead the mourners, sorrow and sympathy flowed freely toward today’s official day of mourning.

In Houston, as NASA’s Johnson Space Center was readied for ceremonies for a national tribute to the Challenger crew, tens of thousands of flowers arrived from all over the country and even from abroad.

‘From a Fellow Flier’

Many were single red roses, sent anonymously; some were huge floral arrangements like the white orchids from King Hussein of Jordan, who signed the accompanying card, “From a fellow flier.”

“Not since the death of Elvis Presley have so many Americans sent so many flowers to a single place,” a spokeswoman for Florists Transworld Delivery said.

In Concord, a friend of McAuliffe’s family read a statement from Steve McAuliffe and his children thanking the nation “for respecting our privacy and for sharing our grief.” The statement added: “We have all lost Christa. We wish we could comfort you all as you have comforted us . . . . To the families of other crew members, we share their sorrow and send our love.”

Students and staff members at Concord High School, where McAuliffe taught, planned a private memorial service for today, and they have asked outsiders--including officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--to stay away.

‘Want to Be Alone’

The students decided that “we want to be alone,” Principal Charles Foley explained. “One girl said, ‘I don’t think I can cry very well in front of NASA,’ ” he said.

The Reagans were scheduled to fly to the Johnson Space Center today for the 45-minute service. It will be open to the approximately 7,000 NASA and space industry personnel who work there. Invitations have been extended also to the 112 finalists in the teacher-in-space program.

Reagan is expected to be in Houston for less than two hours and is scheduled to speak at about 10 a.m. PST. The memorial service will be carried live by ABC, CBS and NBC, beginning at 9:30 a.m. PST.

The service will be held on a grassy, tree-line mall. It is to conclude with a fly-over by NASA jets.

During the visit, the Reagans plan to meet privately with relatives of the seven shuttle crew members.

Pursuing Space Goals

President Reagan said Thursday that the Challenger accident leaves the nation with a “duty” to pursue space goals with the same determination displayed by the seven aboard the lost shuttle.

“We must continue,” Reagan said in a speech in Washington at the 13th annual dinner of the Conservative Political Action Conference. “Other brave Americans must go now where they so valiantly tried to lead . . . . Anyone who doubts this does not know the history of our land, the wonder of America and her free people or the meaning of the words ‘the Right Stuff.’

“The tragedy of the Shuttle Seven,” the President said, “will only serve to strengthen the resolve of Americans to pursue their dream.”

In Concord, Mayor James R. MacKay announced that today his grief-stricken community of 32,000 will observe an official day of remembrance and mourning for McAuliffe.

Concord officials said that Steve McAuliffe, a lawyer, and his two children, Scott, 9, and Caroline, 6, were going from Florida to the ceremonies in Houston. They were not expected to return home until early next week.

Today’s ceremonies in Concord, where all the flags are at half staff, will include a private memorial service for Concord High School students, during which Principal Foley will read a letter of condolence he received Thursday from President Reagan.

Later in the afternoon, the mayor, Gov. John H. Sununu, school officials and local clergymen will conduct a public service on the broad, snow-covered plaza before the gold-domed state capitol building.

“Any resident of Concord, any resident of New Hampshire, any resident of the world may come,” Mark E. Beauvais, superintendent of schools, said.

At the end of the service, the bells of St. Paul’s Church are to toll for seven minutes--one for each of the dead.

James C. Smith, city manager, said that the brief ceremony “will be an opportunity for the community to share their grief with one another and perhaps bring some closure to this tragic day.”

Services at College

On Thursday, a memorial service was held at the Framingham State College in Massachusetts, the college where McAuliffe had studied.

Seven black balloons were released into a chilly blue sky. Among those at the crowded service were McAuliffe’s parents, who joined about 1,000 students in a moving chorus of “America, the Beautiful” and other hymns.

The service marked the first public appearance of Grace and Edward Corrigan, McAuliffe’s parents, since they watched their daughter die in the skies over Cape Canaveral.

Bob Drogin reported from Concord, N.H., and Michael Wines from Washington.