Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. Made History Today

On Feb 9th, 1995, Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. became the first African American to perform a space walk (EVA for extra vehicular activity).  A space walk essentially consists of leaving the confines of a spacecraft while in space. You may have seen astronauts moving around the outside of a spacecraft to make repairs and make other observations.

From Dr. Harris's bio, "he enjoys flying, sailing, skiing, running, scuba diving, art and music." Talk about well rounded, considering that he also holds degrees in medicine and bio medical science. Some people are just awesome. He's also a member of my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Dr. Harris founded the Harris Foundation with the mission "to invest in community-based initiatives to support education, health and wealth". Check a video from the foundation below - if you can't see it, click here.

NASA's Day of Remembrance on the 10th Anniversary of Columbia

Source: NASA

The STS-107 (Columbia) crew took part in the In-Flight Maintenance training, learning more about experiments that were a part of the mission. Seated in front (left to right) are Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Israeli Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Commander Rick D. Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Pilot William C. "Willie" McCool; in back are Mission Specialists David M. Brown and Michael Anderson. As a research mission, STS-107 carried the SPACEHAB Double Module in its first research flight into space and a broad collection of experiments ranging from material science to life science.

Today is the official day of remembrance for the Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia tragedies.  I've previously posted about Apollo and Challenger - today is the 10th anniversary of the loss of space shuttle Columbia, which perished upon reentry in 2001.  

Here's an excerpt from President Barack Obama's full statement:

As we undertake the next generation of discovery, today we pause to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the journey of exploration. 

Space exploration and the sacrifice these pioneers made benefits us all.

Here's an excerpt from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's full statement:

So while the Day of Remembrance is in part a time of sadness, it is also a time of contemplation and thankfulness. It is a time to be thankful that these great men and women shared their lives with us; that they helped advance our nation and made life better on Earth; and that they are still united with us in that shared pursuit.

Celebrate the Astronauts of Apollo 1

NASA established the Mercury and Gemini missions in the 50s and early 60s. These missions were designed to launch men into space in preparation for an actual trip to another celestial body, which would be accomplished with the Apollo missions. Apollo 1 serves as a great example of the courage of scientists that risk their lives daily to further our understanding of the universe.

On Jan 27, 1964, Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were set to fly on Apollo 1 in the mission then known as Apollo 204.. Unfortunately, the Command Module caught fire during launch pad testing with the astronauts inside. The subsequent report included recommendations that helped establish the safety procedures and redundant design that saved the lives of countless men and women over the past 49 years.

Most people are familiar with Apollo 11, where Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins successfully made it to the moon and back.  Tom Hanks and the movie Apollo 13 helped bring that mission involving the salvaging of a botched mission to the mainstream.  Apollo 1 should be held in the same regard, especially since the sacrifice of the three astronauts led to the massive improvements needed for NASA to achieve its job.