NASA 2017 Day of Remembrance, Jan 2017, various locations

NASA will hold its annual Day of Remembrance on January 31, 2017. The Day honors the astronauts whose lives have been lost in spaceflight-related events. The traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled for 11:00 am ET.   NASA also holds events at many of its centers.  Details are in the NASA press release.

Kennedy Space Center will hold a ceremony on January 26, in advance of the Day of Remembrance, at the Space Mirror at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation hall at the KSC Visitor Complex at 10:00 am ET.  It will be broadcast on NASA TV.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 204/Apollo 1 fire that killed the first Apollo crew during a pre-launch test when fire engulfed the spacecraft.  An electrical spark in the 100 percent oxygen cabin atmosphere was determined to be the most likely cause.  Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed.

KSC will hold a second event on January 27 at the opening of an exhibit especially in honor of the Apollo 1 crew.  It will be broadcast on NASA TV at 11:00 am ET.

The Day also honors the seven crew members who died in the 1986 space shuttle STS-51L Challenger tragedy and the seven crew members who died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle STS-107 tragedy.  They are:

Challenger crew

• Commander Dick Scobee, NASA astronaut
• Pilot Mike Smith, NASA astronaut
• Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka, NASA astronaut
• Mission Specialist Judith Resnik, NASA astronaut
• Mission Specialist Ron McNair NASA astronaut
• Payload Specialist Greg Jarvis, Hughes Space and Communications
• Teacher in Space Christa McAuliffe

Columbia crew

• Commander Rick Husband, NASA astronaut
• Pilot William McCool, NASA astronaut
• Payload Commander Michael Anderson, NASA astronaut
• Mission Specialist David Brown, NASA astronaut
• Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, NASA astronaut
• Mission Specialist Laurel Blair Salton Clark, NASA astronaut
• Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Israeli Air Force