UPDATE: The video can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hp1QaUCNJA

The annual Astronaut Memorial Ceremony for the 17 crew members of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia who perished in America’s space program will be conducted Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 at 11 am, at Sand Point Park in Titusville, Florida. (Map & contacts are below.) Also streaming live on our ASM YouTube Channel.

The public is invited to attend this reverent and patriotic ceremony that honors the lives and sacrifice made by these pioneers of NASA’s manned space program. Shuttle astronaut and space-walker Winston Scott* will be the keynote speaker.

The ceremony includes a keynote address, patriotic songs, a host of city and county dignitaries, participation from the Knights of Columbus, the Civil Air Patrol, a 21-gun salute and placement of flowers on the 17 plaques at the park honoring the fallen space travelers.

The beautiful program is hosted by the City of Titusville Flag & Memorial Committee and the American Space Museum. The Titusville Garden Club provides the flowers for this honorable ceremony.

Those being remembered and the day they gave their ultimate sacrifice for America are…

Apollo 1, Jan. 27, 1967: Commander Virgil “Gus” Grissom a Mercury and Gemini veteran, Ed White, the first American to walk in space, and Roger Chaffee;

Challenger STS-51L, Jan. 28, 1986: Commander Dick Scobee, Pilot Mike Smith, Mission specialists Judy Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair and first true civilian and teacher in space Christa McAuliffe;

Columbia STS-107, Feb. 1, 2003: Rick D. Husband, William C. “Willie” McCool, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson and Ilan Ramon of Israel.

Informal Reception After Ceremony

After the ceremony, an informal reception will held at the American Space Museum, 308 Pine Street on southbound US 1, in downtown Titusville. (Museum admission will be free on this memorial Saturday.)

* Winston Scott was a mission specialist testing spacesuits and spacewalking techniques on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-72 on Endeavor in 1996 and STS-87 on Columbia in 1997. He has spent 24 days in space, including three spacewalks totaling 20 hours.
Scott, 71, has been a leader in education and the civil rights movement, and is special assistant to the president at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. He is an accomplished jazz trumpet player, frequently playing with a band.