Challenger/Columbia Memorials - Arlington National Cemetery - Arlington, VA - Space Flight Memorials and Exhibits on Waymarking.com

The Challenger memorial also marks the burial site of those remains that could not be positively identified. The memorial has the faces and the names of the crew and reads: In Grateful and Loving Tribute to the Brave Crew of the United States Space Shuttle Challenger 28 January 1986. On The back of the Memorial is carved the poem High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr. Challenger's commander, Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, its pilot, Michael J. Smith are buried nearby.

The Columbia memorial is strictly a memorial. It represents the patch of STS-107 which was the mission Columbia was flying at the time of the disaster. At the bottom of the memorial reads: In Memory of the Crew of United States Space Shuttle Columbia 01 February 2003. On the back of the memorial is a bronze replica of the crew photo. Because of the two above tragedies as well as Apollo One, the last week of January has been set aside as a period of reflection at NASA.

There is a walkway that is chained to keep visitors a respectful distance from the memorials. The Challenger Memorial is on the left, the Columbia memorial is on the right, and in the middle is a memorial to the crews that tried to rescue the Iran hostages. The coordinates are taken from the walkway. This memorial is about a 100 feet from the Tourmobile for the Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This entire part of Arlington Cemetery is worth spending time exploring - the Changing of the Guard Ceremony is one not soon forgotten.

Hours: Open for visitors at 8am closes at 5pm Oct-Mar closes at 7pm Apr-Sep Fee (if no fee, enter 'none'): No fee except to park and for the Tourmobile How Long a Hike: 1 mile from the parking lot uphill if not using Tourmobile. Amount of time an average person would spend here: Half a day (2-4 Hours) Accessible?: yes Location is wheelchair accessible?: No

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