Remembering Heroes
Today (Friday, Feb. 1st) marks the Day of Remembrance: it is the 10th anniversary of the Columbia disaster. This week also marks two other tragic anniversaries in NASA history: the 46th of the fire on board Apollo I during its test flight (Jan. 27th) and the 27th of the Challenger disaster (January 28th). Each incident helped define the challenges and risks of space exploration for their respective generations and we here at SciFi4Me wanted to pay our respects to those lost, and give credit to the advances and changes in history which arose from these events.
NASA also has galleries for the Day of Remembrance:
While each disaster has proved a learning experience for NASA, there was perhaps no single more history-changing event than the fire on Apollo I. Why? Well, had he not died, Grissom would have likely been the first man to walk on the moon- not Neil Armstrong.
Some interesting reads for the day from Space.com:
About the Columbia disaster:
- How the Columbia Shuttle Disaster Changed Spacecraft Safety Forever
- How Worms Survived NASA’s Columbia Shuttle Disaster
- Columbia Disaster: What Happened, What NASA Learned
About the Challenger disaster:
- Remembering Challenger: NASA’s 1st Shuttle Tragedy
- Challenger: Shuttle Disaster That Changed NASA
- Special Report: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster – 25 Years Later
About the Apollo I fire:
- Photos of the Apollo 1 Fire: NASA’s First Disaster
- Apollo 1: The Fatal Fire
- Forty Years Later, Pad Tech Recalls Apollo 1 Fire
Ad astra per aspera: A rough road leads to the stars.
