NASA marked the twentieth anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy with somber ceremonies and remembrances throughout its annual tribute to fallen astronauts on Thursday.
Greater than 100 folks gathered below a grey sky at Kennedy House Middle to recollect not solely Columbia’s crew of seven, however the 18 different astronauts killed within the line of obligation. NASA’s two shuttle accidents account for greater than half of the names carved into the black granite of the House Mirror Memorial; plane crashes are accountable for the remaining.
Not one of the Columbia astronaut relations attended the morning ceremony. However Zvi Konikov, an area rabbi, recalled how Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, requested him earlier than the flight methods to observe the Sabbath throughout two weeks in orbit with a number of sunsets a day.
“Ilan taught us a strong message. Irrespective of how briskly we’re going, irrespective of how vital our work, we should pause and take into consideration why we’re right here on Earth, and that is what we’re doing at this time. We pause to recall the reminiscence of all these brave souls,” stated Konikov.
Columbia was destroyed throughout reentry on Feb. 1, 2003, after a chunk of fuel-tank foam got here off and punctured the left wing throughout liftoff 16 days earlier. The shuttle broke aside over Texas, simply 16 minutes from its deliberate Florida landing.
NASA managers dismissed the affect through the flight regardless of the considerations of others. That very same form of cultural blunder led to the lack of shuttle Challenger throughout liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven aboard, together with schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
The Apollo 1 launch pad hearth claimed three astronauts’ lives on Jan. 27, 1967.
Due to the clustering of those three dates, NASA units apart the final Thursday of each January to commemorate its fallen astronauts. At space facilities throughout the nation, flags have been lowered to half-staff, with ceremonies held together with spaceflight security discussions.
Like NASA’s earlier tragedies, Columbia’s loss was avoidable, stated former shuttle commander Bob Cabana, now NASA’s affiliate administrator.
“After we look again, why do now we have to maintain repeating the identical laborious classes?” he stated. “I do not ever need to should undergo one other Columbia.”
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From left, Bob Cabana, Affiliate Administrator of NASA; Sheryl Chaffee, daughter of Apollo 1 astronaut Roger Chaffee, and Janet Petro, NASA KSC director, bow their heads in prayer throughout NASA’s Day of Remembrance ceremony, hosted by the Astronauts Memorial Basis at Kennedy House Middle Customer Advanced, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. NASA is marking the twentieth anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy with somber ceremonies throughout its annual tribute to fallen astronauts. Credit score: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel by way of AP
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This undated photograph launched in June 2003 offered by NASA exhibits STS-107 crew members aboard the House Shuttle Columbia. On Feb. 1, 2003, the seven crew members have been misplaced because the Columbia fell aside over East Texas. This image was on a roll of unprocessed movie later recovered by searchers from the particles. From the left (backside row), sporting pink shirts to suggest their shift’s coloration, are mission specialist Kalpana Chawla, commander, Rick D. Husband, mission commander Laurel B. Clark and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist. From the left (prime row), sporting blue shirts, are mission specialist David M. Brown, pilot William C. McCool, pilot; and payload commander Michael P. Anderson. Credit score: NASA by way of AP, File
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House Shuttle Columbia workforce members bear in mind the lack of the STS-107 crew throughout NASA’s Day of Remembrance ceremony, offered by the Astronauts Memorial Basis at Kennedy House Middle Customer Advanced in Florida, on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, for the twentieth anniversary of the mission catastrophe that killed seven astronauts on Feb. 1, 2003. Credit score: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel by way of AP
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Particles from the space shuttle Columbia streaks throughout the Texas sky as seen from Dallas on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003. NASA marked the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy with somber ceremonies and remembrances throughout its annual tribute to fallen astronauts on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Credit score: AP Picture/Jason Hutchinson/file
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A U.S. flag, alongside the bottom of the Washington Monument, flies at half-staff in memorial of those that died aboard space shuttle Columbia, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, in Washington. House shuttle Columbia broke aside in flames 200,000 ft over Texas on Saturday, killing all seven astronauts simply minutes earlier than they have been to glide to a touchdown in Florida. NASA marked the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy with somber ceremonies and remembrances throughout its annual tribute to fallen astronauts on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Credit score: AP Picture/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File
In addition to Ramon, Columbia’s final crew included commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Clark.
A ship’s bell pealed after every of the 25 names have been learn because the ceremony drew to an in depth.
Bob and Diane Kalander interrupted their crusing journey from their house in Jamestown, Rhode Island, to Florida’s Key West to honor the misplaced shuttle crews. Their daughter and her boyfriend joined them at Kennedy.
“It is fading from folks’s reminiscence,” Diane Kalander stated. “There’s been a de-emphasis on space as a result of folks say, ‘Let’s fear about issues on Earth versus the long run.’ We have got to look towards the long run.”
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