posted 01-23-2020 11:06 AM               

NASA to Pay Tribute to Fallen Heroes with Day of Remembrance

NASA will honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, during the agency's annual Day of Remembrance Thursday, Jan. 30.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, along with other senior agency officials, will lead an observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia beginning at 1 p.m. EST. A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by observances for the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews.

Various NASA centers also will hold observances on and leading up to the Day of Remembrance for the public, employees and the families of those lost in service to America's space program.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida

NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in partnership with The Astronauts Memorial Foundation and Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, will host Day of Remembrance observance activities, including a wreath-laying ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation Space Mirror Memorial in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Thad Altman, president and chief executive officer of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, and Kelvin Manning, Kennedy associate director, technical, will speak at the ceremony. This ceremony is open to the public.

Johnson Space Center, Houston

NASA's Johnson Space Center will hold a commemoration for employees at the Astronaut Memorial Grove to honor Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews.

Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

NASA's Stennis Space Center will host a Day of Remembrance ceremony memorializing crew members of the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia missions, as well as members of the Stennis Space Center family lost in the past year. It will feature the laying of a ceremonial wreath in memory of those who have sacrificed in support of the nation's space program.

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will observe Day of Remembrance with a candle-lighting ceremony for employees at 9 a.m. CST. Marshall Associate Director Steve Miley and former astronaut Jan Davis will offer remarks.

The agency also is paying tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content available Wednesday, Jan. 29.

posted 01-30-2020 01:37 PM               

Great achievements in human spaceflight bring not only our greatest triumphs, but also our deepest sorrow. Today NASA and the International Space Station Expedition 61 crew remember the astronauts that gave their lives reaching for the stars. Ad astra, sisters and brothers.

posted 01-30-2020 04:37 PM               

Day of Remembrance – January 30, 2020

Each year at this time, the NASA community pauses on this Day of Remembrance to honor the brave women and men who lost their lives for the most noble of goals: the pursuit of truth and greater understanding. Today, we remember the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, as well as those who surrendered all in support of missions of exploration and discovery. Our expressions of gratitude for their sacrifice cannot retract the overwhelming pain of their loss, but perhaps our efforts can further propel forward the purpose for which they gave their lives.

NASA's Day of Remembrance gives all of us an opportunity to thoughtfully reflect on the lessons of the past and on the lives of those who dared slip the bonds of Earth and reach for greater heights. Space exploration holds many rewards as well as countless unforgiving dangers. Unfortunately, NASA has learned through sad experience the high price spaceflight demands for mistakes and failures. Each of these tragedies have changed NASA. The lessons we learned from them influence everything we do today, ensuring the sacrifices of the fallen will never be forgotten.

Shortly after the Apollo 1 accident that catastrophically killed all three crew members, flight director Gene Kranz addressed his team at mission control. "Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity and neglect," he said. "Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up [and] we should have caught it." Kranz insisted that from that moment on his team would be known for two words: "tough and competent." This renewed sense of personal accountability marked the transformation of a slapdash engineering culture into one with a relentless pursuit of perfection. This culture of excellence has persisted and permeated throughout all of NASA. Similarly, the Challenger and Columbia investigative reports have further perfected and cemented our unrelenting determination to keep our astronauts safe.

This year the lessons of the past are ever at the forefront of our minds as we prepare to return human spaceflight to our nation. In the very near future, we will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil – something not done since the end of the Shuttle program in 2011, and a capability our nation must never lose again. NASA's close partnerships with American businesses will revolutionize spaceflight as commercial spacecraft pave the way to an era of greater human spaceflight opportunities than ever before. These commercial partners know that our standards of safety are uncompromising and are informed by the heart-wrenching loss of heroes we will forever honor on this Day of Remembrance.

The daring pioneer spirit of our men and women throughout the years as they take their seats aboard our spacecraft is remarkable. There is nothing inevitable about scientific discovery nor is there a predetermined path of cutting-edge innovation. Long hours of arduous study and courageous experimentation are required merely to glimpse a flicker of enlightenment that can lead to greater heights of human achievement. Our fallen heroes knew this and it is why they risked their lives. To expand our knowledge of the cosmos is to pursue a better life on Earth for our children, and future generations to come. Much of the technological triumphs and success we enjoy today and the scientific advancements awaiting humanity on the horizon of this new, dynamic era of 21st-century spaceflight are the very gifts they wished to bestow. Our efforts today in pursuing the objectives of the Artemis Program and others honor our heroes for the foundations they laid that make our success possible.

Today on NASA's Day of Remembrance, I encourage all to reflect on the legacy and memory of our friends and colleagues who lost their lives to advance humanity to new frontiers. Let us give gratitude not only in words but through our actions by redoubling our efforts in honor of their selfless sacrifice.

posted 01-30-2020 04:48 PM               

Full Day of Remembrance gallery here.

Above: NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard speaks during a wreath laying ceremony at the Space Shuttle Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia Memorials as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Above: Amy Resnik, wife of Chuck Resnik, touches the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial after a wreath laying ceremony as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Chuck Resnik is the brother of late space shuttle Challenger astronaut Judy Resnik.

Above: NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard, left, and NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, right, look on as June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger commander Richard Scobee, Chuck Resnik, brother of Challenger mission specialist Judy Resnik, and Jane Smith Wolcott, widow of Challenger pilot Michael Smith, place flowers at the graves of Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and Roger Chaffee as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

posted 01-30-2020 05:01 PM               

Just left this Flight Control Room, after completing a sim. Honored to be training hard on this Day of Remembrance.