The Spaceflight Memorial emblem was created in honor of the spirit for which 17 astronauts lived and made the ultimate sacrifice for the human exploration of space. Image Credit: NASA/SpacePlex
WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will lay a wreath at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at 10 a.m. EST, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, to commemorate the agency’s National Day of Remembrance.
NASA has an agency-wide Day of Remembrance every January to honor the fallen crews of Apollo 1, space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and all of those who have given their lives in the cause of exploration.
At 10:30 a.m., NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Director and former astronaut Bob Cabana will take part in a wreath-laying at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The ceremony is open to media representatives and the general public.
From the left, Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee pose in front of their Saturn 1B launch vehicle at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Image Credit: NASA
At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Center Director Michael L. Coats will be joined by astronaut family members to lay a wreath at the Astronaut Memorial Tree Grove at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2011.
Friday, Jan. 28, marks the 25th anniversary of the Challenger accident. At 9 a.m. EST, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation will hold a remembrance service honoring the STS-51L crew members at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the event, which will take place at the visitor complex’s Space Mirror Memorial.
Speakers at the event include Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations; June Scobee Rodgers, widow of STS-51L Commander Dick Scobee; Robert Cabana, former astronaut and director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; and Michael McCulley, former astronaut and chairman of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation.
The Kennedy Visitor Complex will provide flowers for all ceremony guests and visitors throughout the day to place at the memorial.
The Challenger 7 pose for their official portrait on November 15, 1985. In the back row from left to right: Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judy Resnik. In the front row from left to right: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, and Ron McNair. Image Credit: NASA
Challenger’s seven astronauts died shortly after launch on Jan. 28, 1986. The crew consisted of Commander Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, Mission Specialists Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, and Ronald E. McNair, and Payload Specialists Gregory B. Jarvis and Sharon Christa McAuliffe.
This image of the STS-107 crew was found during during a search of the Columbia's wreckage. This imagery is among the more than 84,000 pieces of debris recovered. From the left (bottom row): Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Rick Husband, commander; Laurel Clark, mission specialist; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist. From left (top row) are astronauts David Brown, mission specialist; William McCool, pilot; and Michael Anderson, payload commander. Ramon represents the Israeli Space Agency. Image Credit: NASA
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, a private, not-for-profit organization, built and maintains the Space Mirror Memorial. The memorial was dedicated in 1991 to honor all astronauts who lost their lives on missions or during training. It since has been designated a National Memorial by Congress.
