Space Mirror Memorial 1517935 225997931 2008-07-16T11:18:34Z 75.132.192.205 m need to preview... [[Image:amf space mirror.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Space Mirror]] The '''Space Mirror Memorial''', also known as the '''Astronaut Memorial''', is a [[memorial]] on the grounds of the [[John F. Kennedy Space Center]] Visitor Complex in [[Merritt Island, Florida]]. It is maintained by the [[Astronauts Memorial Foundation]], whose offices are located in the NASA Center for Space Education next door to the Visitor Complex. The memorial was dedicated in 1991 to remember the lives of the men and women who die in the space programs of the [[United States]], particularly those of [[NASA]]. The Space Mirror Memorial has been designated a [[National Memorial]] by the [[U.S. Congress]]. In addition to 20 NASA career [[astronaut]]s, the memorial includes the names of a [[U.S. Air Force]] [[X-15]] test pilot, a [[U.S. Air Force]] officer who died while training for a then-classified military space program, a civilian spaceflight participant who died in the Challenger disaster, and an international astronaut who was killed during the Columbia disaster. ==Memorial elements== [[Image:space mirror sts107.jpg|right|thumb|Panel of [[STS-107]] Names on the adjacent granite wall]] The primary feature of the memorial is the '''Space Mirror''', a large mirror of black granite, divided into 90 smaller panels. The names of the 24 astronauts who have died are scattered over the mirror, with names of astronauts who died in the same incident grouped on the same panel, or pairs of adjacent panels. The names are cut completely through the surface, exposing a translucent backing, and filled with translucent acrylic, which is then backlit with a combination of reflected sunlight (when available) and floodlights, causing the names to glow, and appear to float in a reflection of the sky. Near the Space Mirror is a granite wall, bearing pictures and brief biographies of those listed on the Mirror. The design of the Space Mirror was the result of an international design competition. The winners of this competititon were the now defunct architectural firm of Holt Pfau Hinshaw and Jones. ==Memorial funding== The Astronauts Memorial Foundation and Space Mirror Memorial are funded in part by a specialty [[vehicle registration plate]] issued by the state of [[Florida]]. Called the "''Challenger''" plate, it was first issued in [[1987]], and was the first (and, until recently, most popular) specialty plate issued by the state. The third edition, introduced in [[2004]], includes ''Columbia'' in the text, but is still termed the "''Challenger''" plate. [http://www3.hsmv.state.fl.us/Intranet/dmv/specialtytags/a.cfm?id=60] The memorial cost US$6.2 million.<ref name="flatoday"/> == Defunct sun tracking mechanism == The memorial, as built, incorporated motors and jackscrews to constantly track the sun across the sky in both pan and tilt axes. Parabolic reflectors on the back side of the mirror would then direct the sunlight through the acrylic panels to brilliantly illuminate the honorees' names with sunlight. Supplemental floodlights were used when the sun was inadequate. In 1997, the tracking system failed, allowing part of the monument to strike a steel beam on an adjacent platform. Insurance paid US$375,000 in repair work, but later, the mechanism again ground to a halt, due to further problems with the slewing ring. <ref name="flatoday">Ash, J.: "Memorial Repairs Delayed Indefinitely", ''Florida Today'', January 23, 2001.</ref> Estimated repairs were on the order of US$700,000, and the Astronauts Memorial Foundation unanimously decided the money would be better spent on educational programs instead. The floodlights were therefore repositioned and are kept burning 24 hours a day.<ref name="flatoday"/> == Honorees == Only those killed during space missions sponsored by the United States or during training for [[human spaceflight]] missions are eligible for inclusion in the memorial.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} For a comprehensive list of space disasters, see [[List of space disasters]]. The people honored on the memorial are: *[[Theodore Freeman]], one of the "[[Astronaut Group 3]]" recruits from 1963, died in a [[T-38 Talon|T-38]] training accident on [[October 31]], [[1964]]. *[[Elliott See]] and [[Charles Bassett]] were killed in a T-38 accident on [[February 28]], [[1966]] when their aircraft crashed into McDonnell Building 101 on a foggy day. They were originally slated to be the crew of [[Gemini 9]]. Bassett was another Group 3 recruit, whereas See was an [[Astronaut Group 2]] recruit from 1962. *[[Virgil Grissom]], [[Edward Higgins White|Edward White]] and [[Roger Chaffee]] were in the [[Apollo 1]] capsule for a ground test on [[January 27]], [[1967]] when a short circuit ignited flammable materials in the pressurized pure-oxygen atmosphere. The astronauts died of carbon monoxide poisoning before ground crews could reach them. Grissom, one of the "[[Mercury Seven]]" astronauts, had flown twice before. White conducted the first US [[spacewalk]] on [[Gemini 4]]. Chaffee, a rookie, was a Group 3 recruit. *[[Clifton Williams]] died in a T-38 training crash on [[October 5]], [[1967]]. Another Group 3 recruit, he was in the Apollo astronaut rotation, and would have been on the crew of [[Apollo 12]]. He was also memorialized by a fourth star on the official Apollo 12 mission badge. [[Alan Bean]], who took Williams's seat on Apollo 12, is rumored to have left Williams's astronaut wings on the moon as a token of his sacrifice.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} *[[Michael J. Adams]] died in an [[X-15]] crash on [[November 15]], [[1967]]. He was not a NASA astronaut recruit, but made the memorial by virtue of having earned the [[Astronaut Badge]] in the X-15 program. He was also in the [[United States Air Force]]'s [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]] program. *[[Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.|Robert H. Lawrence, Jr.]] died on [[December 8]], [[1967]], when the [[F-104]] he was testing crashed and his ejection seat parachute failed to open. He was in the [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]] program at the time, and could have become among the first African-American astronauts had he survived to take NASA's offer for all under-35 MOL candidates to join their space program when MOL was scrapped in 1969. *On [[January 28]], [[1986]], the [[Space Shuttle Challenger]] broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff on mission [[STS-51-L]]. All seven crew members — [[Dick Scobee|Francis "Dick" Scobee]], [[Michael J. Smith (astronaut)|Michael J. Smith]], [[Ronald McNair]], [[Gregory Jarvis]], [[Judith Resnik]], [[Ellison Onizuka]], and [[Christa McAuliffe]] — died. Scobee, McNair, Resnik and Onizuka had flown before. McAuliffe was participating via the [[Teacher in Space Project]]. *[[Sonny Carter|M. L. "Sonny" Carter]] died on [[April 5]], [[1991]], in the crash of [[Atlantic Southeast Airlines]] [[Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311|Flight 2311]]. Carter was a passenger traveling on NASA business. He had flown on [[STS-33]] and was in training for [[STS-42]] at the time. *On [[February 1]], [[2003]], the [[Space Shuttle Columbia]] disintegrated on re-entry at the end of mission [[STS-107]] due to damage during ascent. The crew was [[Rick D. Husband]], [[William C. McCool]], [[David M. Brown]], [[Kalpana Chawla]], [[Michael P. Anderson]], [[Laurel Clark]] and [[Ilan Ramon]]. Husband, Chawla and Anderson were veterans. Ilan Ramon was a pilot in the [[Israeli Air Force]]. == Gallery == <gallery> Image:amf_space_mirror_dedication.jpg|Space Mirror Dedication Image:amf_dignity_memorial.jpg|The Dignity Memorial Image:Florida 2006 2 084.jpg|Another look at the Space Mirror </gallery> == Notes == {{reflist}} ==See also== [[Fallen Astronaut]], a memorial to dead astronauts on the Moon ==External links== {{Geolinks-US-buildingscale|28.525232|-80.681598}} *[http://www.amfcse.org/ The Astronauts Memorial Foundation] - Official Website *[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11451 Astronaut Memorial] at Find-A-Grave *[http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2003-00078.html Astronaut Memorial Space Mirror] *[http://www.spaceshuttlememorial.com Interactive Space Shuttle Disaster Memorial] [[Category:Human spaceflight]] [[Category:Landmarks in Florida]] [[Category:Monuments and memorials in Florida]] [[Category:Merritt Island, Florida]] [[Category:Mirrors]] [[Category:Space program fatalities]] [[Category:Space Shuttle program]] [[Category:Visitor attractions in Florida]]