NASA workers observe Day of Remembrance

NASA workers observe Day of Remembrance

Associated Press

Friday, January 30, 2004

Cape Canaveral, Fla. — With the first anniversary of the Columbia tragedy just a few days away, NASA employees throughout the country paused Thursday to remember the 17 astronauts who lost their lives over the years “because we failed.”

Sean O’Keefe, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, declared that the last Thursday in every January be a Day of Remembrance within the space agency to honor the memory of the crews of Columbia, Challenger and Apollo 1.

Space exploration is dangerous enough, and accidents should never be the consequence of “complacency, indifference, a failure to attend to detail,” O’Keefe told employees in a televised address. “This should be everyone’s solemn pledge,” he said.

Standing alone on an auditorium stage at NASA headquarters in Washington, O’Keefe choked up as he read the roll of the dead.

“They are not with us today because when it mattered most, we failed. And so it is incumbent upon us to remember not just today, not once a year, not on the anniversaries, but every day, every single day that the consequences of us not getting it right are catastrophic, and each of those families will live with this consequence for the rest of their lives.”

All three anniversaries fall within a week. The Apollo 1 spacecraft fire on the launch pad occurred Jan. 27, 1967; the Challenger launch explosion occurred Jan. 28, 1986; the Columbia disintegration during re-entry occurred Feb. 1, 2003, killing seven astronauts.

NASA workers were asked to remember the two men killed in a helicopter crash in Texas in March while searching for Columbia debris and early aviation pioneers killed while pushing the limits.

IN MEMORY

The 17 dead astronauts honored by NASA Thursday:

— Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, killed Jan. 27, 1967, in a fire in their Apollo capsule during a countdown test on the launch pad.

— Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Judith Resnik, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Ellison Onizuka, killed Jan. 28, 1986, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.

— Rick Husband, William McCool, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, killed Feb. 1, 2003, when shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry.