NASA DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 2018, Jan 25, 2018

NASA’s annual Day of Remembrance will take place on January 25, 2018.   The day honors fallen astronauts who died furthering the cause of space exploration and discovery, especially those who died in the January 27, 1967 Apollo 1 fire; the January 28, 1986 space shuttle Challenger tragedy; and the February 1, 2003 space shuttle Columbia tragedy.

Beginning at 10:25 am ET, Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot and other senior agency officials will lead an observance at Arlington National Cemetery, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier followed by observances for the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews.

The Astronauts Memorial Foundation at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will host an event at the Space Mirror Memorial beginning at 10:oo am ET.  The agenda is on the event’s website.  Speakers include:

• Thad Altman, president and chief executive officer of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation
• Robert Cabana, Kennedy center director
• Eileen Collins, former space shuttle astronaut
• Karen Stevenson, daughter of Charles A. Bassett II
• Sally Kneuven, daughter of Elliot M. See Jr.
• Beth Williams, widow of Clifton C. Williams Jr.
• Brent Adams, son of Michael J. Adams
• Tal Ramon, son of Ilan Ramon

Bassett and See were assigned to the 1966 Gemini IX mission, but died that year when their T-38 training airplane crashed at Lambert Field in St. Louis, MO.  (Gemini IX flew with their backup crew, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan.)

C.C. Williams was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963.  He was killed in 1967 when his T-38 airplane crashed near Tallahassee, FL.

Michael Adams was an X-15 pilot who died during his seventh X-15 flight in 1967.

Israeli Air Force pilot Ilan Ramon was a member of the space shuttle Columbia crew.