NASA's fallen astronauts honored during Titusville memorial ceremony
TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Sunday saw a tribute in Titusville to some of America’s heroes: 17 astronauts – 16 Americans, and one Israeli – who were killed while working on the space program.
"I think the City of Titusville and the group that's involved in this are doing the space program a great favor by having this memorial," said former NASA astronaut Michael McCulley.
McCulley piloted the shuttle Atlantis in 1989. He said it was important to honor these fallen colleagues, many of whom he knew well.
"Still, this is home for the workforce, more than anything else," he said, "so doing an annual tribute to those who died in those accidents is worthwhile."
In 1967, three astronauts died during a launch test for the Apollo One mission: Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White II, and Roger Chaffee.
On Jan. 27, 1967, veteran astronaut Gus Grissom, first American spacewalker Ed White and rookie Roger Chaffee (left-to-right) were preparing for what was to be the first manned Apollo flight. Image Credit: NASA
In 1986, seven people were killed shortly after the shuttle Challenger launched: Frances "Dick" Scobee, Michael Smith, Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Ronald McNair and Christa McAuliffe.
Photo shows NASA's Challenger crew posing for photographs on Jan. 9 1986 | Credit: NASA
In 2003, seven more lost their lives when the shuttle Columbia attempted to land: Rick D. Husband, William C. "Willie" McCool, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, and Ilan Ramon of Israel.
UNDATED FILE PHOTO: The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia's mission STS-107 take a break from their training regime to pose for the traditional crew portrait. Seated in front are astronauts Rick D. Husband (L), mission commander; Kalpana Chawla, mission
Mike was Columbia’s launch director and remembered that day.
"All I knew was that Columbia was somewhere between orbit and the Kennedy Space Center, but we had no idea where," he said, "and it's just an awful, empty feeling, and then the realization sunk in pretty quickly that it was un-survivable, too."
Leinbach said he had his doubts about the space program moving toward commercial businesses, but that had changed.
"I went from a bit of a skeptic to a full, hundred percent supporter. It's great to see."
The event was a partnership between the City of Titusville and the American Space Museum. During the ceremony, they laid flowers on the plaques in Sand Point Park's astronaut memorial, which lists the names of those killed. The next generation of aerospace leaders, members of the area's Civil Air Patrol, said these heroes were an inspiration.
"They went above and beyond," said Civil Air Patrol Cadet Ephraim Liu, "and they were doing something that nobody's ever done before. They were reaching new heights, that inspires me to also reach new heights."