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 open to the public on Sunday Jan. 26, 2025 at 1 pm, at Sand Point Park in Titusville, FL.

Shuttle astronaut Andy Allen, who twice flew Columbia, will be the keynote speaker.* 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. (Map & contacts are below.) This special memorial will be broadcast live on the American Space Museum’s YouTube channel.

The ceremony includes a keynote address, patriotic songs, a host of city and county dignitaries, cadets of 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 annual remembrance 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.

Informal Reception After Ceremony at Museum

Afterwards, those attending the ceremony are invited to an informal reception from 3-4 pm at the American Space Museum, 308 Pine Street on southbound US 1, in downtown Titusville. For more information, contact Mark Marquette marq@americanspacemuseum.org or 321-264-0434.

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.

* Keynote speaker, astronaut Andy Allen, is from Richboro, Pennsylvania and has 38 days in Earth orbit as Space Shuttle pilot or commander on three missions in the 1990s. Allen received his commission in the United States Marine Corps at Villanova University in 1977, and became a Top Gun aviator. Since 2006, he has been CEO and owner of Aerodyne Industries in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

(Note: NASA’s Day of Remembrance is Jan 30th, 2025.)