NASA Observes Day of Remembrance

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. – Today, January 26, 2023, NASA paused and took time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of space exploration. The Day of Remembrance is an annual event that is open to the public on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center in front of Space Mirror Memorial. As in years past, each attendee receives a flower that they can place by the Space Mirror at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Leading the ceremony was Thad Altman, Executive Director and Chief Executive Office of The Astronauts Memorial Foundation. In conjunction with this ceremony, additional ceremonies were also held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, Johnson Space Center in Texas and John C Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

Opening this morning’s ceremony was the Viera High School JROTC Honor Guard and a singing of the Nation Anthem by Suzy Cunningham and Rabbi Zvi Konikov gave the opening invocation. Rabbi Zvi Konikov in the opening invocation said: “We pause to recall the memory of all those courageous souls, all our nations’ astronauts who gave their whole, soul and body too.” He reflected on his personal friendship with fallen Columbia astronaut Ilan Ramon.

This year’s ceremony marks the 20th year of the Columbia disaster that occurred on February 1, 2003 when the space shuttle broke apart over Texas prior to landing at Kennedy Space Center.

Speaking on behalf of Kennedy Space Center was NASA Kennedy Space Director Janet Petro: “This day, our day of remembrance is a solemn and sacred time for our agency. A day to recognize and honor those who lost their lives in the pursuit of knowledge and a day to pause, step back and reflect on our pursuits and our history. We gather to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

Bob Cabana, Associate Administrator of NASA commented: “Why do we do this? Why do we have a NASA Day of Remembrance? To honor those that gave the ultimate sacrifice in our quest to explore, but more importantly, it’s so we do not forget the hard lessons learned from Apollo, Challenger and Columbia.”

In a statement from NASA: “NASA’s Day of Remembrance is about pausing, remembering, and uplifting the legacies of the NASA family who gave their lives to advance the cause of discovery. While this will always be solemn day, it’s also one of gratitude. We are thankful that NASA’s adventurers shared their lives with us and made life better on Earth,” said Nelson. “As we continue to expand humanity’s reach in this new era of exploration, we must always embrace NASA’s core value of safety.”

Presenting the wreath at today’s remembrance ceremony were Bob Cabana, Janet Petro, and Sheryl Chaffee daughter of Apollo 1 astronaut Roger Chaffee.

Each year, NASA holds this ceremony around the anniversaries of the Apollo 1 fire that occurred during a test that resulted in the loss of the three astronauts aboard on January 27, 1967, the loss of Challenger and the STS-51L crew during ascent after launching from LC-39A on January 28, 1986 and the loss of Columbia and her STS- 107 crew when the shuttle broke apart during re-entry on February 1, 2003. 

---

NASA Day of Remembrance 2023

January 26, 2023

Michael Howard

Open in Gallery