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I should have posted this a few days ago on the actual anniversary of one of them, but I forgot. So I'm remembering now.

A few days after the 13th anniversary of the Columbia Disaster (Feb 1, 2003), there's an article about it, and the possibility it may have been saved, had it been realized there was a problem: http://arstechnica.com/science/2016...that-might-have-saved-space-shuttle-columbia/

I would also like to point out the closeness of dates, of January 28, 1986 of the Challenger disaster as well, as it's 30 years this year for that one too.

I'd like a moment here to remember those who died in those missions:

From Challenger:
PositionAstronaut
Commander Francis R. Scobee
Second spaceflight
Pilot Michael J. Smith
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Ellison S. Onizuka
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 Judith A. Resnik
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Ronald E. McNair
Second spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Gregory B. Jarvis
First spaceflight
Hughes Space and Communications
Payload Specialist 2 S. Christa McAuliffe
First spaceflight
Teacher in Space

And Columbia:
PositionAstronaut
Commander Rick D. Husband, USAF
Second spaceflight
Pilot William C. McCool, USN
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 David M. Brown, USN
First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 / Kalpana Chawla
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 3 Michael P. Anderson, USAF
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 4 Laurel B. Clark, USN
First spaceflight
Payload Specialist 1 Ilan Ramon, IAF
First spaceflight

We talk a lot about tech, and lots of other geek-topics here, but I wanted everyone to remember that people have perished in spaceflight. It's dangerous, but it's also worth it. And so those who gave their lives in this extremely dangerous profession, that they do for the good of all of us, deserve to be remembered.

(and if somebody wants to list Apollo 1, I'm 100% OK with that too)
X

I still remember.

--Patrick

Apollo 1 - January 27, 1967
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Command Pilot
Edward H. White, Senior Pilot
Roger Chaffee, Pilot

I remember Columbia distinctly. I could hear it break up. It sounded like somebody set off a string of ladyfinger firecrackers outside my door. Most of the debris fell 50 miles south of the house where I was staying.

I did not know what it was at the time of course. But I wanted to watch the coverage of the landing. So I turn on the TV wondering if they would report on what made that noise also. Then CNN had a bunch of long-faced NASA engineers waiting on Columbia, because she was late.

I remember Challenger. I was working work study and had lost track of time. If I had remembered, I would have taken five minutes and gone outside to watch. Someone came running into the office and said "the shuttle's blown up". I couldn't believe it. I went outside and just stared at the cloud for minutes, trying to see some evidence that the shuttle had separated from the tank.

I remember Columbia. My Aunt and Uncle were visiting, so we were out looking for birds -- Florida scrub jays specifically. Someone driving by saw our binoculars and thought we were looking for the Shuttle. They stopped and told us the shuttle had burned up. I remember listening to the RV radio until it became obvious that they were just repeating the same basic information over and over. As the day went on, I kept thinking about what I wasn't going to hear -- the twin sonic booms announcing that the shuttle was home.