Take a moment today to remember our nation’s fallen astronauts

It’s that somber time of year when we take a few moments in Houston, the home of NASA astronauts, to remember the three crews who sacrificed their lives for the advancement of human exploration.

Apollo 1: On Jan. 27, 1967, during a pre-flight test on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy, astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee lost their lives when a fire swept through the command module. Theirs was to be the first crewed flight of the Apollo program.

Challenger: On the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, seven astronauts died when a booster engine failed, causing the Shuttle Challenger to break apart just 73 seconds after launch. The astronauts on board were Francis (Dick) Scobee, Ronald McNair, Mike Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik and Ellison Onizuka.

Columbia: On Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere due to damage sustained by its heat shield during takeoff. Astronauts on board were Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Blair Salton Clark.

I was 12 years old when Challenger exploded, and I remember it vividly. Ronald Reagan’s speech after the accident will always be with me as well.

For me it remains the gold standard for talking to kids about tragedies such as these, especially these lines:


The future does belong to the brave. We would be wise to not forget that.

Eric Berger