In Memoriam

The following story, originally intended as an entry for the 100 Words (No Repeats!) Challenge, was written to honor the crews lost on the following missions:

APOLLO I, 6:31pm EST on 01/27/1967: USAF LTC Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, USAF LTC Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee

CHALLENGER, 11:39am EST on 01/28/1986: CDR Michael J. Smith, Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Ronald E. McNair, USAF LTC Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik

COLUMBIA, o/a 9:00am EST on 02/01/2003: USAF Col. Rick D. Husband, CDR William C. McCool, USAF LTC Michael P. Anderson, Israeli AF COL Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, CAPT David M. Brown, and CAPT Laurel Clark.

In Memoriam

"Roll call, please," prompted Acting Administrator Scolese.

"Anderson..., Brown..., Chaffee..., Chawla..., Clark..., Grissom..., Husband..., Jarvis..., McAuliffe..., McCool...,
McNair..., Onizuka..., Ramon..., Resnik..., Scobee..., Smith..., White," concluded Director Cabana.

"Tomorrow ends the blackest week on NASA's historical calendar.  We gather to commemorate seventeen colleagues lost in American spacecraft at various times during this ill-fated span of days.  These friends - family members, really - lived, breathed, and zealously pursued a common dream: push back space's boundaries, explore, see what's out there.  Let us honor their pioneering spirits with our "mission critical" attitude: every job done right, each task perfectly completed.  Thank you all."