NASA marks 20 years since Columbia disaster

NASA marked the 20th anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia tragedy with sombre ceremonies and remembrances during its annual tribute to fallen astronauts.

More than 100 people gathered under a grey sky at Kennedy Space Centre 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; plane crashes are to blame for the rest.

None of the Columbia astronaut family members attended the morning ceremony. But Rabbi Zvi Konikov, a local rabbi, recalled how Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, asked him before the flight how to observe the Sabbath during two weeks in orbit with multiple sunsets a day.

“Ilan taught us a powerful message. No matter how fast we’re going, no matter how important our work, we must pause and think about why we’re here on Earth, and that’s what we’re doing today. We pause to recall the memory of all those courageous souls,” said Rabbi Konikov.

Columbia was destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003, after a piece of fuel-tank foam had come off and punctured the left wing during lift-off 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 negligence led to the loss of the shuttle Challenger during lift-off on January 28, 1986, killing all seven aboard, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

The Apollo 1 launch pad fire claimed three astronauts’ lives on January 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 centres across the country, flags were lowered to half-mast, with ceremonies held along with space flight 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.”

Besides Ramon, Columbia’s last crew included commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Clark.

A ship’s bell pealed after each of the 25 names were read as the ceremony drew to a close.

Bob and Diane Kalander interrupted their sailing trip from Jamestown, Rhode Island, to Florida’s Key West to honour the lost shuttle crews. Their daughter joined them at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

“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.”

Times of Israel, AP