Amy Resnik, sister-in-law of Challenger astronaut Judy Resnik, and Kristy Carroll, family friend of Columbia astronaut William McCool, embrace by the Space Shuttle Columbia and Challenger Memorials at Arlington National Cemetery on NASA’s Day of Remembrance. (NASA Photo / Bill Ingalls)
The last Thursday of January is NASA’s time to pay tribute to fallen astronauts, including 1967’s Apollo 1 astronauts and the Challenger shuttle astronauts who were lost in 1986. Today, there’s an added emphasis on the shuttle Columbia’s last crew, due to the 15th anniversary of that tragedy.
Mastermind of Cosmic Log, contributor to GeekWire and Universe Today, author of "The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference," past president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.
