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#885921 01/27/15 02:09 PM
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It was 48 years ago today - January 27,1967 - that a fire on the launchpad claimed the lives of the astronauts of Apollo 1, Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White. Sparks from an arcing wire ignited the oxygen-rich atmosphere and filled the cabin with flames within ten seconds.

Grissom had written his memoirs after the Gemini program and concluded that “soon or later, inevitably, we're going to . . . lose somebody. I hope this never happens. . . but if it does, I hope the American people won't feel it's too high a price to pay for our space program.” I doubt that he thought he would be one of the casualties.

And at least these three deaths led to substantial redesign of the Apollo command module to make it safer. This probably saved other lives later. There is a plaque on the launchpad where they died. AD ASTRA PER ASPERA means a rough road to the stars.

In the photograph Ed White's son is touching his father's name on a wall of the Kennedy Space Center.


Last edited by Mona - Astronomy; 06/30/15 07:04 AM.
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Mona, thank you for letting us know and remember ...

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On January 28, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger was launched on its tenth mission. It broke apart 73 seconds after launch. None of the 7-person crew survived.

The mission had received quite a lot of publicity from the presence of Christa McAuliffe, the Teacher in Space. Nearly twenty years later, McAuliffe's backup Barbara Morgan went into space on the shuttle as an ordinary mission specialist.

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The Challenger Center for Space Science Education (Challenger Center) is a nonprofit education organization formed in 1986 as a tribute to the Challenger crew.


It now has 44 centers around the world who work to inspire and strengthen an interest in STEM areas, i.e., science, technology, engineering and math. The centers honored the anniversary of the Challenger loss, and some accompanied June Scobee Rodgers and Dr. Chuck Resnik and his family to a Day of Remembrance in Arlington National Cemetary. Mrs Rodgers was the wife of Challenger Commander Dick Scobee and Dr. Resnik lost his wife Judith Resnik. The Day of Remembrance commemorates astronauts, NASA pilots and employees “who lost their lives in the pursuit of exploration.”

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If you read about the Challenger astronauts, their accomplishments and abilities were amazing. It would be impossible to choose the most outstanding of them, but I'd like to mention Ronald McNair because I love this story about him told by his brother. He was an African American kid growing up in the South in the 1950s. But he had his eyes on the stars from an early age. Nothing deterred him, except - in the end - death itself.

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Two tragedies would seem to be more than enough, even though they were separated by nearly twenty years. But, sadly, there was a third loss which the space community mourns. Twelve years ago today, on February 1, 2003 the shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas and Louisiana as it re-entered the atmosphere after a successful mission. All of the crew members were lost.

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A new exhibition "Forever Remembered" has opened at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With the help of the families, it tells of the accomplishments and stories of the crews of STS-51L (Challenger) and STS-107 (Columbia).

Pictures and video of Forever Remembered.


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