Space Mirror Memorial
National memorial honoring U.S. astronauts who died in the line of duty.
Last updated
The Space Mirror Memorial is a national monument honoring U.S. astronauts who died in spaceflight or training, located at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.[1] It consists of 90 polished black granite plates that display names illuminated by continuous light projected from behind the 42.5-foot-tall by 50-foot-wide wall.[1] The memorial cost $6.2 million to construct.[2]
Quick Facts
- Designed
- 1987 by Holt Hinshaw Pfau Jones
- Dedicated
- May 9, 1991
- Location
- John F. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island, Florida
- Cost
- $6.2 million
- Primary feature
- Space Mirror
- a flat expanse of polished black granite
- 42.5 feet high by 50 feet wide
- Number of honorees
- 24 (as of January 2020)
- Maintained by
- Astronauts Memorial Foundation
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation was founded in summer 1986 after the Challenger disaster, by architect Alan Helman, then-Congressman Bill Nelson, and other leaders.[3] A specialty vehicle license plate called the Challenger plate, first issued in 1987, also funds the memorial.[4] Insurance paid $375,000 for repairs, but further problems halted the mechanism again.[2] In July 2019, the Foundation voted to include private astronauts on the memorial.[5]
Sales of "Space Shots" trading cards were intended to provide partial funding for the memorial, based on a deal where 25% of the profits from those cards would be given in return for a guarantee on a $160,000 loan.[6] The Astronauts Memorial Foundation decided to allocate the roughly $700,000 needed for repairs to educational initiatives instead.[2] Michael T. Alsbury, a pilot for Scaled Composites, became the first private astronaut added to the memorial after his death in the SpaceShipTwo crash on October 31, 2014.[5][1]
What the cited sources add
The collectSPACE account reports that Alsbury's name was unveiled on January 25, 2020, during a ceremony with tributes from fellow pilots and former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins.[1] Alsbury was the 20th person to die during a space mission or test flight, alongside four Russian cosmonauts, 14 NASA astronauts, and a U.S. Air Force pilot.[1] The memorial omits some U.S. astronauts who died in accidents, such as Edward Givens in a car crash and David Griggs in a private aircraft accident.[1] Florida's first specialty license plate, which began selling in December 1986, was the Astronauts Memorial Foundation plate featuring artwork by Robert McCall.[3]
References
- "Fallen SpaceShipTwo pilot's name added to Space Mirror Memorial", collectSPACE, January 25, 2020. facts only, no text reused. collectspace.com
- Wikipedia, "Space Mirror Memorial" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ash, J.: "Memorial Repairs Delayed Indefinitely", Florida Today, January 23, 2001. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Space Mirror Memorial" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schweers, "Space nonprofit CEOs pay unusually high", Florida Today, 21 November 2010, p. 1A (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Space Mirror Memorial" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Personalized and Specialty License Plates"; Schweers, "Space nonprofit CEOs pay unusually high", Florida Today, 21 November 2010, p. 1A (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Space Mirror Memorial" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Astronauts Memorial Foundation to include private astronauts on the Space Mirror Memorial", The Astronauts Memorial Foundation (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Space Mirror Memorial" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Clary, "As the Space Mirror turns, focus is on funds : Amid structural problems at the Astronauts Memorial, a probe of its financing is launched.", Los Angeles Times, 1991-08-19; "Auditors tracking Challenger tag funds", Ocala Star-Banner, January 26, 1994 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Space Mirror Memorial (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Space program fatalities
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Space Mirror Memorial (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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