Today marks the 25th anniversary of the loss of Challenger. Just 73 seconds into the mission, a booster failure caused an explosion that resulted in the loss of seven astronauts, as well as, the vehicle.
On Thursday, January 27, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden participated in a wreath-laying ceremony as part of NASA’s Day of Remembrance, at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
“NASA has learned hard lessons from each of our tragedies, and they are lessons that we will continue to keep at the forefront of our work as we continuously strive for a culture of safety that will help us avoid our past mistakes and heed warnings while corrective measures are possible,” said Bolden in a statement.
On the morning of February 1, 2003, Mission Control lost contact with the Columbia crew of the STS-107, just 16 minutes from landing. All seven astronauts perished in the breakup of the orbiter as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. A piece of foam, fallen from the external tank during the launch had opened a hole in one of the shuttle wings.
And on January 27, 1967, 44 years ago, astronauts Gus Grisson, the first American space walker, Ed White and rookie Roger Chafee perished during a pre-launch test when fire broke out in their Apollo capsule a top the launch pad.
An investigation into the 1967 fatal accident let to major design and engineering changes, making the Apollo spacecraft safer for coming journeys to the moon.
“In memory of our colleagues, I ask the NASA Family once again to always make its opinions known and to be unafraid to speak up to those in authority, so that safety can always be our guiding principle and the sacrifices of our friends and colleagues will not be in vain,” Bolden stated.
