28.01.2022

NASA officials and invited guests on Thursday gathered at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for spaceflight, an annual gathering held at centers across the country.

NASA’s Day of Remembrance – observed annually on the last Thursday of January – serves as an opportunity for the agency and family members to honor those who gave their lives in pursuit of space exploration.

The day is observed because three separate tragedies occurred decades apart but all in the same calendar week: Apollo 1 test capsule fire in 1967, the space shuttle Challenger explosion just after takeoff in 1986, and shuttle Columbia's failure during re-entry in 2003.

Columbia broke apart during its re-entry sequence just sixteen minutes before landing in Florida, killing all seven crew members aboard. The following year, officials decided to mark the last Thursday of January to honor all three – and all others who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Due to the threat of inclement weather, the ceremony was held inside The Center for Space Education at the Visitor Complex. Afterward, attendees were led in procession to the Space Mirror Memorial at the Visitor complex for a ceremonial wreath-laying commemorating those lost. 

In attendance were family members of the fallen astronauts as well as speakers Kelvin Manning, Deputy Director of NASA Kennedy Space Center, and Thad Altman, President of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation.

"Each year we come together, not only to remember the lives and the legacy of the men and the women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the quest to expand science further for the sake of humanity, but to recommit ourselves to ensuring the safety of those who continue to keep the dream of human spaceflight alive," Manning said. 

A common theme present during the ceremony was the agency's initiative to return humanity to the Moon, and then on to Mars and further with the Artemis Program.

"As we rise to the challenges of today's new era in spaceflight, return to the Moon, sending humans deeper into space than ever before, we salute the pioneers who have gone before us and we stand fully committed to the safety of those who pick up the torch and continue for the benefit of humanity," Manning said. 

The day marked the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 1 test capsule fire at Kennedy Space Center – an on-the-pad, pre-launch test that resulted in a fire breaking out in the capsule that ultimately killed NASA astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.

An honored speaker at the event was Lowell Grissom, brother of Gus.

"Apollo 1 has taught us we can never really fail as long as we persist in our efforts. The greatest lesson we can learn from Grissom, White, and Chaffee is that failure is impossible for those who refuse to abandon their goals. Ultimately, the most fitting tribute to the crew of Apollo 1 is for us to continue doing that for which they gave their lives," he said.

Guests at the Visitor Complex were encouraged to pay their respects at the Space Mirror Memorial later in the day following the ceremony. They were also encouraged to visit the "Forever Remembered" memorial located inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit to remember those lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies and the Apollo 1 Ad Astra Per Aspera tribute at the Saturn V Center.

Many other NASA centers including Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, held virtual or closed to the media events for limited guests due to constraints of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

All names on the Space Mirror Memorial: 

• Theodore Freeman
• Charles Bassett
• Elliott See
• Clifton Williams
• Virgil "Gus" Grissom
• Edward White
• Roger Chaffee
• Michael Adams
• Robert Lawrence
• Francis Scobee
• Michael Smith
• Judith Resnik
• Ellison Onizuka
• Ronald McNair
• Gregory Jarvis
• Christa McAuliffe
• Manley "Sonny" Carter
• Rick Husband
• William McCool
• Laurel Clark
• Michael Anderson
• Kalpana Chawla
• David Brown
• Ilan Ramon