NASA Dedicates Columbia Memorial

NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe on Monday dedicated a memorial to the crew of space shuttle Columbia at Arlington National Cemetery, eulogizing the astronauts as “pilots, engineers and scientists all motivated by a fire within.”

More than 400 Columbia family members, former astronauts and NASA staff attended the dedication, which took place a year and a day after the ship disintegrated on its return to earth, claiming the lives of all seven astronauts.

The memorial features a bronze replica of a mission patch designed by crew members. The names of the Columbia astronauts – Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon – are etched into the bronze, which is set on Vermont marble.

“They were pilots, engineers and scientists all motivated by a fire within, a passionate eternal flame within each of their souls that compelled them to live lives of distinction and bring the heavens ever closer to our grasp,” O’Keefe said.

He said the crew’s legacy would live on in President Bush’s call to renew missions to the moon and begin human exploration on Mars.

“Our task will be to pursue this goal with renewed diligence in the memory of these heroic souls,” O’Keefe said.

The graves of 29 astronauts – including Anderson, Brown and Clark from the Columbia shuttle – also are in the national cemetery in Arlington, Va. The memorial is located near a monument to the shuttle Challenger, which fell apart on its ascent on Jan. 28, 1986.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also attended the service.

Patti LaBalle performed “Way Up There,” the Grammy-nominated song NASA commissioned last year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight.

Congress allocated $500,000 for the monument in the Columbia Orbiter Memorial Act, which President Bush signed into law last April.