Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center Opens in Downey, California, Challenger Center for Space Science Education “The Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center opens today in Downey, California. The facility is a memorial to the crews of both the space shuttle Columbia, lost in 2003, and Challenger, lost in 1986. Among the Center’s diverse program offerings will be a Challenger Learning Center, where students will fly simulated space missions. The […]

Columbia: Thinking Back – Looking Ahead “The ceremonies and dedications to the crew of Columbia were painful to the space community. But they were set along familiar themes that Americans have come to know as traditional. But on the day following the dedication, a memorial was held in Washington, DC which marked a wholly different national tradition. Several hundred invited guests gathered at the Embassy of Israel on that cold, […]

NASA Report: Understanding Columbia’s Loss, SpaceRef “Accidents are things to be avoided. However, by the very nature of how we currently send humans into space and return them to Earth, there is a substantial amount of risk involved. Much of that risk has been identified and is manageable. But not all of it. Of course, when you hear this discussion, someone inevitably says that the only way to make these […]

NASA TV to Air Columbia Crew Remembrance Service“NASA Television will provide live coverage of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s remembrance service honoring space shuttle Columbia’s STS-107 crew. The ceremony will be held at the Space Mirror Memorial on the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at 10 a.m. EST on Feb. 1, the fifth anniversary of the Columbia accident.”

Planetarium to Honor Life of Fallen Arlington Son – Captain David M. Brown“The Arlington School Board unanimously approved a recommendation to name the Planetarium in honor of Captain David M. Brown. Captain Brown, a Yorktown High School graduate, died while serving as a mission specialist on the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia mission on February 1, 2003. In November 2007, Arlington Public Schools received a letter from Arlington resident George Wysor, […]

A Strong Push From Backstage, Washington Post“When the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, for example, Bush was consumed with concern for the families of the seven dead astronauts. That left Cheney to make the first critical decisions about the future of manned spaceflight. Even as the vice president and others were grappling with the invasion of Iraq, Cheney crafted a solution to the most pressing […]

NASA paid $26.6M to Columbia families, Orlando Sentinel“NASA paid $26.6 million to the families of seven astronauts who died aboard space shuttle Columbia — a settlement that has been kept secret for more than 21/2 years. The space agency recruited former FBI Director William Webster, also a former federal judge, to act as a mediator and adviser in negotiating the out-of-court settlements, according to documents released to the Orlando Sentinel […]

Spacehab Dismisses RDM Claim With NASA“SPACEHAB, Incorporated, a leading provider of commercial space services, today announced that the Company has filed for a formal dismissal with prejudice of all litigation against NASA relating to losses incurred by SPACEHAB as a result of the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident. In January 2004 the Company initiated a formal proceeding against NASA in which the Company was seeking damages in the amount of […]

Excerpt from “New Moon Rising“, by Frank Sietzen, Jr. and Keith L. Cowing

Like father, like son, ynetnews.com“Assaf Ramon, son of Israel’s first astronaut Ilan Ramon, has applied to the Israel Air Force pilot training course, says he wants to follow in illustrious father’s footsteps to outer space.”Lunar Crater Names for the Columbia Astronauts Provisionally Approved, U.S. Geological Survey“Names for seven craters in the Apollo basin on the Moon have been provisionally approved by the IAU to honor the seven Space Shuttle Columbia […]

Statue honors fallen hero (photo), Spokesman Review“Spokane astronaut Michael P. Anderson has been eulogized as a humble, deeply religious and inspirational man who lived out his dream. For the past year, local artist Dorothy Fowler has used those descriptions to help her create an 8-foot-high, 600-pound bronze statue of Anderson.”

Israeli forensic expert solves mystery of Ilan Ramon’s diary, Israel21C“Little did [Sharon] Brown, a superintendent in the Israel Police Division of Identification and Forensic Science, realize that a year later, she would play an integral role in reconstructing the last days of Ramon’s life aboard the shuttle.”

Spacehab Announces Dismissal of Lloyds of London Complaint“Spacehab today announced that Certain Underwriters at Lloyds of London have agreed to drop their complaint against the Company and join with Spacehab in pursuit of its claims with NASA for reimbursement of loss for its Research Double Module in the STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia accident.”– Spacehab Appeals Decision for Losses on Space Shuttle Mission– Spacehab Files Tort Claim For Losses on Space […]

Summary of the Office of Inspector General’s Reviews on Aspects of NASA’s Response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report“During our reviews, performed from September 2003 through May 2005, we identified no significant issues or problems that would indicate an unnacceptable risk for returning the space shuttle to flight that the SSP is not already engaged in solving.”

Echoes of Columbia, Orlando Sentinel“Laurel Clark’s husband, Jon, still works for NASA as a neurologist but says he plans to retire to write a revelatory book about the Columbia catastrophe, and the need for a far more dramatic shift in the way NASA operates.”

Reader Comment: “I am a NASA KSC employee and there is a new commercial for OnStar that just started airing that features the Space Shuttle. The shuttle featured in the commercial isColumbia and I do not have to tell you how much in poor taste this is. I realize that not everyone will recognize that it is Columbia, but for those of us who do (especially the families of the […]

Columbia Memorial ServiceDate/Time: Tuesday, Feb. 1, 10:30 – 11 a.m. Location: St. Dominic Catholic Church, 630 E Street, S.W. All members of the NASA Family are invited to attend a non-denominational memorial service for the crew of STS-107 on Feb. 1, the second anniversary of the Columbia accident. The service will take place Tuesday from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at St. Dominic Catholic Church, 630 E Street, S.W., Washington.

NASA Day of Remembrance Scheduled Jan. 27“A Day of Remembrance observance honoring those members of the NASA Family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery will take place Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. from NASA Headquarters in Washington.” Editor’s note: Looking back at the news coverage of this event, I find it somewhat annoying that nearly all of the news accounts focus only on astronauts […]

NASA Haughton-Mars Project Space Shuttle Columbia Inukshuk Memorials“To honor the memory of the seven astronauts of Space Shuttle Columbia’s last flight the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) has established seven astronaut memorial sites on Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic, during the summer field seasons of 2003 and 2004.”Keith Cowing’s Devon Island Journal 20 July 2003: Arctic Memorials and Starship Yearnings“Our task was a somewhat solemn one. We were here […]