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Astronauts – in Memoriam
Traveling into space is an astronaut's dream. However it's a dangerous occupation, both in the realization and in the training. A number of astronauts, almost all American or Russian, have paid the ultimate price for their dreams. Where are their memorials?

Astronauts – in Memoriam

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It was 54 years ago, on January 27th, that NASA astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, died when fire swept through the command module during a preflight test. They were the crew of Apollo 1. Grissom would probably have been the first man to step on the Moon.

Grissom and Chaffee are buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, and White at West Point Cemetery in New York.

Yesterday NASA held its annual Day of Remembrance. In this photo acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk is placing a wreath at the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial. This was part of a ceremony, held at Arlington National Cemetary, as part of the Day of Remembrance. Wreaths were also laid at the other two memorials - you can see them in the photo - commemorating astronauts who lost their lives in the exploration of space.

[Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls]

On January 28th 1986, NASA's space shuttle Challenger was engulfed in a huge fireball soon after launch. The seven members of the Challenger crew lost their lives.

I remember. Horrifying.

18 years ago today, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during reentry. Columbia's crew perished. There is a monument in Arlington National Cemetery.

There's also a monument - Forever Remembered - in the Kennedy Space Centre, which is dedicated to those lost in both the Columbia and Challenger disasters.