Tag Archives: Space Shuttle Columbia

Soccer ball recovered from Shuttle Challenger wreckage reaches space three decades later

Posted by Lane Luckie on
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A soccer ball that survived the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986 is now aboard the International Space Station. (Source: Shane Kimbrough/ NASA)

A soccer ball that was to be carried to space by the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger has finally reached its destination, 31 years later. Prior to the January 28, 1986 launch, the ball was presented to NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka by soccer players, including his daughter, from Clear Lake High School.

Onizuka was one of the seven astronauts killed when the shuttle exploded shortly after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The ball was recovered among the wreckage and returned to the school, where it has been on display for the past three decades, according to NASA.

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New spacecraft named after astronaut killed in E. Texas space shuttle tragedy

Posted by Lane Luckie on
The next Cygnus spacecraft to visit the International Space Station will be named S.S. Rick Husband, Orbital ATK announced Tuesday. (Source: NASA)

The next Cygnus spacecraft to visit the International Space Station will be named S.S. Rick Husband, Orbital ATK announced Tuesday. (Source: NASA)

The next cargo spacecraft to launch to the International Space Station will bear the name of an American astronaut killed in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy over East Texas.

An Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo resupply spacecraft bearing the name S.S. Rick Husband will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 22.

Husband served as commander of the STS-107 mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, which broke apart during reentry over East Texas on February 1, 2003.

All seven crew members perished in the accident, just 16 minutes before the scheduled landing in Florida. Continue reading →