Challenger Learning Center to honor astronauts on Remembrance Day
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Each year, January marks a solemn anniversary for the space community as we take time to remember the brave astronauts lost their lives in the pursuit of space exploration.
The Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee will hold a Remembrance Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, to honor the crews of the Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia.
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On Jan. 27, 1967, tragedy struck on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy during a preflight test for Apollo 204 (AS-204). The mission was to be the first crewed flight of Apollo and was scheduled to launch Feb. 21, 1967. Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee lost their lives when a fire swept through the command module, or CM.
On Jan. 28, 1986, seven astronauts were killed when the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after launch. Astronauts Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ron McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Greg Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe were killed 73 seconds after liftoff when Challenger suffered a catastrophic structural failure.
On Jan. 16, 2003, the Columbia STS-107 mission lifted off for a 17-day science mission. Astronauts Rick Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark, Ilan Ramon were lost during reentry as Columbia reentered the atmosphere over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.
Each year at the end of January NASA holds a Day of Remembrance to honor the astronauts lost in these three tragedies.
"NASA's Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives in our shared endeavor to advance exploration and discovery for the good of all humanity," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. "Every day, we have an opportunity to further uplift the legacies of those who gave their lives in pursuit of discovery by taking the next giant leap, meeting every challenge head-on, as they did. In doing so, we also must never forget the lessons learned from each tragedy and embrace our core value of safety."
"The Challenger Learning Center was created to be an ongoing symbol our nation’s commitment to space exploration and to inspire students to explore, discover, and inspire," shared Alan Hanstein, Executive Director of the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee. "We are dedicated to keeping the memory of these astronauts alive through the celebration of their accomplishments and the lessons they left behind."
The Challenger Learning Center is located at Challenger Learning Center, 200 S. Duval St. For information, call 850-645-7796 or visit challengertlh.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Challenge Learning Center honors lost astronauts with Remembrance Day
