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Colorado Mountain Peak Named for Shuttle

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

A 13,980-foot mountain peak in Colorado has been named in honor of the space shuttle Columbia. The mountain peak, which is located in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains, was named "Columbia Point" in a ceremony Tuesday at the Interior Department.

"Columbia Point will forever commemorate the space shuttle mission," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton who presided over the naming ceremony with NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, "It's a high point that looks up to the heavens."

The peak is one of three peaks in the mountain range that commemorates American explorers of the past and present. One peak honors the nineteenth century western explorer Kit Carson. The northwest peak is named in honor of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded after liftoff on January 28, 1986. Challenger Point and Columbia Point are both of the same height.

"It's fitting that sister peaks, Challenger Point and now Columbia point, honor our beloved space missions," Norton said.

NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski, an avid mountain climber, suggested naming the peak after helping to counsel the families of the deceased Columbia astronauts, who died when their craft broke up as it returned to Earth on Feb. 1. Parazynski, who has climbed to Challenger Point, said he plans to climb to Columbia Point later this summer and place a bronze plaque in memory of his colleagues.

"I think the crew of STS-107 Columbia would be ecstatic to know that they will have a special place," said Parazynski.

The name Columbia Point is registered with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a federal agency that standardizes geographic names.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://geonames.usgs.gov.

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