posted 01-28-2016 01:12 AM               

Space shuttle Challenger's fallen flags and mission patches, 30 years later

The flags and patches were found the next day, floating in the Atlantic Ocean, among the debris from the fallen space shuttle Challenger.

The nylon banners and embroidered emblems, packaged in watertight pouches, were intended for NASA employees and other supporters of the 51-L mission, to be distributed after Challenger and its seven-member crew returned from orbiting the Earth for six days. Instead, 73 seconds into the flight, a problem with a solid rocket booster resulted in the Challenger breaking apart.

Originally put on the orbiter as mementos of NASA's 25th space shuttle mission, the flags and patches now took on a different role – as memorials for the astronauts lost in the U.S. space program's first tragedy during flight.

posted 09-19-2018 02:36 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by denali414:
That is really sad, that already this is a "forgotten" event and these states have just forgotten where the plaques are, or have not lived up to the promise of a dedicated place for them.

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How many people going past Lakehurst, New Jersey have a clue (or even cares) that the Hindenburg was destroyed there? Who even knows when that happened unless they have a personal connection to it? Anyone here ever heard of the Airship Roma disaster 15 years previously?

In a century or more, is anyone visiting Omaha Beach at Normandy going to know (or even care) what happened there in 1944? Probably not.

Think of the 9/11 monuments and memorials around the country right now. Just give it a generation or two and I promise you hardly anyone is going to care.

posted 09-19-2018 05:56 PM               

That said, I don't think it's not living up to the promise (whatever that is) of a dedicated place for them. Unlike outer space, space at museums and public buildings is limited.