In the flight control rooms of the JohnsonSpaceCenter, the emblems of missions successfully flown are mounted high on the wall for all to see, silent testimony to the many moments of triumph observed those rooms.

Three emblems however, are mounted apart; their placement is symbolic for these represent the flights that never made it home. In the minds of the flight controllers, their mission is now one of inspiration instilling for all time a desire for excellence amongst flight control teams.

They are a reminder of the deep sense of loss still felt within the NASA family.

It is a loss that NASA and the astronauts’ families have been reluctant to share.

Until now.

This weekend in a small subdued ceremony attended by the astronauts families the latest exhibit opened at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Center.

This exhibit is unlike any other in any space museum. You will not find talking animatronics, gee wiz facts panels or experimental thrills for would be astronauts.

This exhibit is starkly confronting, very personal and deeply moving.

In truth, it is entirely wrong to call this an exhibit. It is a memorial.

Located underneath the Space Shuttle Atlantis, “Forever remembered” pays homage to the two darkest moments in the Space Shuttle program: The loss of the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

“Forever Remembered” is not designed to tell the graphic story of the loss of the two vehicles, stories of which have been retold countless times, rather it honours, in a very personal way, the 14  fallen astronauts and their lost vehicles: Challenger and Columbia.  

After several years of careful planning and sensitive collaboration conducted in secret between NASA and the families of the Challenger and Columbia accidents, the lives of the 14 lost astronauts are told through personal artefacts donated by the crew’s families.

In individual display cabinets arranged seven aside, along the central gallery of the memorial; Ron McNair’s Judo suit with black belt, Judy Resnik’s violin and piano music, Rick Husband’s bible, a house plan drawn up by Mike Smith, a copy of one of Kalpana Chawla’s favourite books, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and a burnt sheet from Ilan Ramon’s flight notebook allow us to see the astronauts as they really were both in their quest to explore space and in their private lives on the planet. We see people of skill, intellect and passion, people of faith and compassion and most importantly, we see Fathers, Mothers, sons and daughters, people who were after all not so very different from us all.

This memorial serves a dual purpose, as it honours not only the crews, but the lost orbiters as well.

For many years, the policy of NASA has been not to display artefacts directly associated with the three major accidents that have befallen the program, Apollo 1, (1967) Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003)

To date, the remains of all three have been kept in secure locations far from the public gaze. The Apollo 1 Command Module remains in sealed storage at LangleyResearchCenter in Hampton VA.

Recovered portions of Challenger rest in two disused minuteman missile silos at Cape Canaveral.

The catalogued remains of Columbia, stored in a disused office suite in the Vehicle Assembly Building, are available for loan, subject to NASA approval, to scientific institutions for further analysis and investigation that could be of benefit to the development of future generations of manned spacecraft; thereby continuing Columbia’s legacy of scientific investigation and discovery.

Only portions of Columbia have thus far been displayed, usually for in-house NASA exhibits serving to emphasise the importance of flight safety.

For the first time in the public domain, a single artefact from each of the fallen shuttles is displayed in solitude within the memorial.

Challenger is represented by a torn portion of her aft starboard fuselage displaying the American flag.

 Columbia is represented by its wrap around flight deck windows, displayed in such a way as to replicate their position on the orbiter’s flight deck.

Each iconic artefact bears stark testimony to the terrible forces that destroyed the two craft as well as carrying enormous symbolism. Challenger’s scarred flag mirrors the pain felt by the entire country at its loss. Columbia’s windows are a mirror to the soul of the vehicle. Looking into their six glassless panes, we see at once Astronauts Young and Crippen on the first (STS 1) shuttle flight and the faces of her final STS 107 crew as they executed their flight plan.

Some may question of displaying artefacts from the orbiters themselves. However, Columbia and Challenger left us with a scientific and engineering legacy which will carry us forward into the future of space exploration. It is fitting that they too should be honoured.

Whilst confronting, this is a memorial that is long overdue, It is all to easy to ignore that which is difficult or painful; yet this is a chapter of NASA’s history that should never be ignored for without setback we can never truly appreciate our successes.

The location of the memorial, beneath the retired orbiter Atlantis and only metres from the Space Mirror memorial and reflective pool allows us not only the opportunity to see the accidents in the context of the overall Space Shuttle program but also to honour all astronauts and cosmonauts lost in the cause of space exploration.

It is to be hoped that, in time, a similar permanent commemoration will honour the crew of Apollo 1.

NASA and the astronaut’s families are to be commended for their courage in sharing with the American nation and the world the lives of their family members through this memorial.

I urge everyone visiting KSC, whether as a tourist or as a dedicated student of spaceflight history to visit the memorial, to honour the memory of the lost astronauts of Challenger and Columbia and in so doing to pause and reflect on their lives, their achievements and their legacy to future generations.

A quote from former US president Ronald Regan, mounted in the memorial’s main gallery is appropriate:

                       “The future does not belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave.”

Resting on a shelf in my office are a number of reel to reel audio tapes, each one containing original recordings from the Apollo lunar landings.

For me these tapes are a portal to another time providing as they do, a unique portal into the Apollo era.

One recording is from the Apollo 11 flight in 1969. Correspondent William McCorry leads the Voice of America live coverage of the 1969 launch. During the 45 minute recording, the flight progresses from T – 20 minutes to orbital insertion.

Listening to the recording of that historic day, one cannot help but be swept up once again in the emotion, tension and sense of anticipation associated with that first lunar landing mission, making it seem as real and exciting as it did on that July day 46 years ago.

Perhaps no one portion of that tape is as striking as the final countdown from T-6 minutes to lift-off. The final stage of that commentary remains one of the most recognised and reproduced pieces of audio from the space program of the 1960’s. Both stirring and emotive, it conveys precisely the sense of history that surrounded the launch of the first lunar landing mission its impact not diminishing despite the passage of four decades:

“LIFT-OFF! we have a Lift-off  32 minutes past the hour lift-off on Apollo 11. TOWER CLEARED!!”

The man who uttered those words, John (Jack) King, the voice of the ApolloLaunchControlCenter, passed away June 11 inCocoaFlorida at the age of 84.

Born in Boston in 1931, King initially served as Sports Editor for the Associated Press before leading the Cape Canaveral bureau of AP through 1958 and 59.

Joining NASA Public Affairs in 1960, King, as Manager of Press Operations, developed from scratch many of the press site facilities for the early flights at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center.

Most notably, Jack commentated launches from Gemini 4 through the Apollo missions to Apollo 15 before advancing in the NASA hierarchy to become Director of Public Affairs at the Manned Spacecraft Center (Now Johnson Space Center) A position encompassing education and public outreach including astronaut appearances, inter government relations and exhibit programs.. For the 1975 Apollo Soyuz Test project, King was part of a 3 member panel that negotiated a joint information plan for the first US – Soviet mission including live broadcast of the launch and landing of the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. In 1975, following ASTP, he moved to WashingtonDC and the US Energy Research and Development Administration before leaving government service in 1977 to join Occidental International followed by P.R firm Powell Tate.

The final part of his career was spent in CocoaBeach with United Space Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed contracted to manage the processing space shuttles for flight, before retiring in 2010.

Such was Jack’s dedication to the space program that he continued to volunteer for NASA public affairs following his retirement from USA.

With Jack King’s passing, another of the silent heroes who made the first golden age of space exploration possible has been lost.  His words and his legacy will however live on.

Jack King’s contribution to NASA was not merely to translate the technical chatter that comprised any countdown, but to bring that event to the general public in a very real, very human way that provided a sense of awe and wonder and a true realisation of the historical nature of the event as it unfolded.

No one who hears the Apollo 11 recording can fail to miss the tinge of very human emotion that invaded Jack’s voice at the 2 second mark in the countdown closely followed the emphatically powerful pronouncement of Liftoff as the Saturn left the launch pad.

There will be other countdowns, there will be other pioneering flights, that may in time outshine the accomplishments of Apollo; but the launch of Apollo 11 will be unique for all time as our first meaningful step toward establishing a foothold off the planet. As the next generation of space designers and explorers look outward, to the moon, Mars and points beyond, they will inevitably look back, for inspiration to the successes of Apollo and in so doing, they too will hear Jack King’s words echoing down through the years, stirring in those who strive for a renewed space exploration initiative a desire to take the next steps on our journey to the stars.

When we do launch again, the spirit of Jack King and the other silent heroes of Apollo will journey with us.

                              Jack King NASA Public Affairs Officer, 1931 – 2015