NASA Remembers Those Lost Pursuing Discovery And Exploration
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, 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.
Journalists who want to attend the wreath-laying ceremony must contact
the Arlington National Cemetery public affairs office at
dave.foster1@us.army.mil by 4 p.m., Jan. 26, for access information.
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.
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. Media
representatives interested in covering the memorial should contact
the Johnson newsroom by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 281-483-5111.
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.
Journalists interested in covering the Jan. 27th wreath-laying or the
Jan. 28 memorial should contact Andrea Farmer at 321-449-4318 or
Jillian McRae at 321-449-4273 for access information. The public also
is invited to attend the service. The Kennedy Visitor Complex will
provide flowers for all ceremony guests and visitors throughout the
day to place at the memorial.
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.
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.
To view an online tribute, including photographs, videos and
information about the crew members on Apollo 1 and shuttle Challenger
and Columbia, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Source: NASA
