January 28, 1986




I am particularly enamored of a Jewish saying I learned a few years ago. It states that we die twice - once, when we physically die, and finally the last time our names are spoken on this Earth.

To that end ......

Commander Dick Scobee
Pilot Michael Smith
Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka
Mission Specialist Judith Resnick
Mission Specialist Ron McNair
Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis
Payload Specialist Christa McAuliffe

But that's not all. Yesterday was the anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire.

Command Pilot Gus Grissom
Senior Pilot Ed White
Pilot Roger Chaffee

But wait, there's more - in a few days' time, February 1 marks the loss of the Columbia.

Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Mission Specialist Michael Anderson
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla
Mission Specialist David Brown
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark
Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon

There is no single memorial to all those lost in space. There is the Space Mirror, but that only includes American names.

There is also the Fallen Astronaut, but that was placed decades ago before the shuttle program, and does not include those Soviet Cosmonauts that died in secrecy during the cold war.

Look up; the cosmos will remember.