Astronaut Memorial Plaza

Apollo/Challenger/Columbia Memorial
City of Titusville Florida

Dedicated on Flag Day, June 14, 1986

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APOLLO: During preparations for the first manned apollo mission, fire broke out in the apollo command module while the flight crew was aboard for a prelaunch test. Killed in the January 27, 1967 accident at Complex 34 were Virgil L. Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee and Edward H. White.

SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION STS-51-L: On January 28, 1986, the orbiter Challenger and its crew of seven were lost when the Space Shuttle vehicle exploded in flight about 74 seconds after liftoff from launch pad 39-B. Killed in the explosion were NASA career astronauts Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. SMith, Ronald E. McNair, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Ontzuka, Hughes Payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, and S. Christa Corrigan McAuliffe, who was to have been the first teacher in space.

SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION STS-107: On Feb. 1, 2003, Shuttle Columbia was lost during its return to Earth after a 16-day mission that was dedicated to research in physical, life, and space sciences. The crew consisted of: Rick D. Husband, Commander; William C. McCool, Pilot; Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander; David M. Brown, Mission Specialist 1; Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist 2; Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Mission Specialist 4; Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist 1.