NASA Remembers Its Fallen Heroes, 50th Anniversary of Apollo 1 Accident

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Jan 25, 2017, 17:42 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will honor members of the NASA family, including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery during the agency's annual Day of Remembrance on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

On the Day of Remembrance, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, and other agency senior officials, will hold an observance and wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia starting at 11 a.m. EST.

Various NASA centers will hold observances on and leading up to the Day of Remembrance for the public, employees and the families of those lost in service to America's space program.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 tragedy at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26, at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation hall in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. This ceremony is open to the public and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Also on Thursday, employees at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will unveil a banner honoring Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews.

On Friday, Jan. 27, Kennedy will host a public ceremony at 11 a.m. for the official opening of an Apollo 1 tribute at the Apollo/Saturn V Center of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. This event also will air live on NASA TV and the agency's website.

The agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will observe the NASA Day of Remembrance with a candle-lighting ceremony for employees, as well as a public event at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Marshall's official visitor center, at 10 a.m. CST on Jan. 31.

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston held a commemoration for employees at the Astronaut Memorial Grove to honor Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews, followed by astronaut Edgar Mitchell's memorial tree planting ceremony on Tuesday.

The agency also is paying tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content at:

http://www.nasa.gov/dor2017

SOURCE NASA