NASA marks 20 years since space shuttle Columbia disaster
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA marked the 20th anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy with somber ceremonies and remembrances during its annual tribute to fallen astronauts Thursday.
More than 100 people gathered under a gray sky at Kennedy Space Center to remember not only Columbia’s crew of seven, but the 18 other astronauts killed in the line of duty. NASA’s two shuttle accidents account for more than half of the names carved into the black granite of the Space Mirror Memorial.
Columbia was destroyed during reentry Feb. 1, 2003, after a piece of fuel-tank foam came off and punctured the left wing during liftoff 16 days earlier. The shuttle broke apart over Texas, just 16 minutes from its planned Florida touchdown.
NASA managers dismissed the impact during the flight despite the concerns of others. That same kind of cultural blunder led to the loss of shuttle Challenger during liftoff Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven aboard, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
The Apollo 1 launchpad fire claimed three astronauts’ lives Jan. 27, 1967.
Because of the clustering of these three dates, NASA sets aside the last Thursday of every January to commemorate its fallen astronauts. At space centers across the country, flags were lowered to halfstaff, with ceremonies held along with spaceflight safety discussions.
Like NASA’s earlier tragedies, Columbia’s loss was avoidable, said former shuttle commander Bob Cabana, now NASA’s associate administrator.
“When we look back, why do we have to keep repeating the same hard lessons?” he said. “I don’t ever want to have to go through another
Columbia.”
Bob and Diane Kalander interrupted their sailing trip from their home in Jamestown, Rhode Island, to Florida’s Key West to honor the lost shuttle crews at Kennedy.
“It’s fading from people’s memory,” Diane Kalander said. “There’s been a de-emphasis on space because people say, ‘Let’s worry about problems on Earth as opposed to the future.’ We’ve got to look toward the future.”