Space Center's NASA Day of Remembrance Honors Fallen Astronauts

Space Center's NASA Day of Remembrance Honors Fallen Astronauts

Jan. 26, 2017, Kennedy Space Center employees and guests paid their respects to astronauts who have perished in the conquest of space. The annual Kennedy Day of Remembrance activities included a ceremony in the Center for Space Education at Kennedy's visitor complex. The observance was hosted by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF), paying tribute to those who acknowledged space is an unforgiving environment, but believed exploration is worth the risk.

The following day, Jan. 27, marks the 50th anniversary of the loss of the crew of Apollo 1. The ceremony also honored the astronauts of the STS-51L Challenger crew who perished in 1986, the STS-107 crew of Columbia who died in 2003, along with other astronauts who were lost in the line of duty.

Fallen Astronauts Honored on Day of Remembrance

Each year, Kennedy Space Center employees and guests join others throughout NASA to honor and celebrate the contributions of those astronauts who have perished in the conquest of space. The Day of Remembrance activities pay tribute to astronauts who acknowledged space is an unforgiving environment, but believed exploration is worth the risk.

 This year's ceremony took place on Jan. 28 in the Space Shuttle Atlantis facility at Kennedy's visitor complex. The date marked the 30th anniversary of the loss of the shuttle Challenger and her crew.

Center Director Bob Cabana, a former space shuttle commander, emphasized that flight safety must remain paramount embracing the experiences from Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia.

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger accident, Kennedy Space Center observed NASA's Day of Remembrance, Jan. 27, with a wreath-laying ceremony at the KSC Visitor Complex Space Mirror Memorial. The Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the astronaut crews of Apollo 1 and shuttles Challenger and Columbia. 

Kennedy's Center Director Robert Cabana, Deputy Center Director Janet Petro, and United Space Alliance's Associate Program Manager for Solid Rocket Boosters Roger Elliott laid the wreath, inscribed with the words, "Remembering our Fallen Heroes," at the memorial, and observed a moment of silence. 

A statement issued by President Barack Obama read in part, "Today, on this Day of Remembrance when NASA reflects on the mighty sacrifices made to push those frontiers, America's space agency is working to achieve even greater goals. Through triumph and tragedy, each of us has benefited from their courage and devotion, and we honor their memory by dedicating ourselves to a better tomorrow. Despite the challenges before us today, let us commit ourselves and continue their valiant journey toward a more vibrant and secure future." 

NASA is honoring its fallen astronauts with a special day of remembrance Wednesday (Jan. 28), the 29th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle tragedy.

Space agency officials are conducting ceremonies at several different sites around the country during the annual event, to pay tribute to the three crewmembers killed in 1967's Apollo 1 fire, the seven astronauts lost when Challenger exploded in 1986 and the seven crewmembers who died when the shuttle Columbia broke apart upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere in 2003.  

Thirty years ago today, NASA suffered a spaceflight tragedy that stunned the world and changed the agency forever.

On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after blasting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven astronauts on board — including New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, a civilian who had been selected to fly via NASA's "Teacher in Space" program.

NASA astronauts had died on the job before — Apollo 1 crewmembers Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee were lost when a fire broke out inside their command module during a launchpad exercise on Jan. 27, 1967 — but the Challenger disaster was something different altogether. [Remembering Challenger: