 |
|
NASA Day of Remembrance - 1 February 2013 |
|
| The Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF) held a ceremony to honor the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) on the 10th anniversary of the Columbia accident. The event took place at the Space Mirror Memorial starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. These images are meant to just give an overall impression. Not all the speakers or events are documented here so as to keep it short and simple. | |
 |
|
| The flags at the Complex, like this one at the entrance, were all at half mast. | |
 |
|
| From the KSC Visitor Complex press release: "The Space Shuttle Columbia's crew of seven astronauts perished when Columbia broke apart during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003." The astronauts of STS-107 in their official NASA mission portrait: from left, Mission Specialist David M. Brown, Commander Rick D. Husband, Mission Specialists Laurel Blair Salton Clark & Kalpana Chawla, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Pilot William C. McCool and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. | |
 |
|
| The AMF provided flowers to all the participants to leave at the Memorial in remembrance of the astronauts. The flowers ". . . honor the fallen crews of Apollo 1, space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and all of those who have given their lives to the cause of exploration." From the AMF flyer given out with the flowers. | |
 |
|
| The crowd gathers at the Space Mirror Memorial. | |
 |
|
| NASA and AMF invited guests make up the audience sitting in the seats. They consist of family members of the fallen astronauts along with NASA, military, and political representatives. | |
 |
|
| People were allowed to leave their flowers before or after the ceremony. I left mine before the ceremony began so I would not have to carry it around; it's the red rose at far left. | |
 |
|
| The place was crawling with news media. Here the names of the Columbia astronauts are framed by two NASA TV cameras. | |
 |
|
| The ceremony began with the color guard from Patrick Air Force Base displaying the U.S. and Air Force flags. | |
 |
|
| At left on the speaker's dais is Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot a space shuttle before going on to become the first female shuttle commander. She commanded STS-114, the Return To Flight mission flown by Discovery at the resumption of missions after the Columbia accident. She is sharing a moment with Robert Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director and former astronaut. | |
 |
|
| Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of Colonel Rick Husband, commander of Columbia's STS-107 mission, talked with heartfelt emotions about her husband and the other Columbia crew members. | |
All contents copyright Lunar Cabin |
|