[meteorite-list] NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks To Columbia Crew

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:20 2004
Message-ID: <200402030036.QAA02516_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

February 02, 2004

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/393-9011)

RELEASE: 04-048

NASA DEDICATES MARS LANDMARKS TO COLUMBIA CREW

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the Martian hills,
located east of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover's landing site,
would be dedicated to the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew.

"These seven hills on Mars are named for those seven brave souls,
the final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia crew
faced the challenge of space and made the supreme sacrifice in
the name of exploration," Administrator O'Keefe said.

The Shuttle Columbia was commanded by Rick Husband and piloted by
William McCool. The mission specialists were Michael Anderson, Kalpana
Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark; and the payload specialist was
Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia and
its crew were lost over the western United States during re-entry into
Earth's atmosphere.

The 28th and final flight of Columbia (STS-107) was a 16-day mission
dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences. The
Columbia crew successfully conducted approximately 80 separate
experiments during their mission.

NASA will submit the names of the Mars features to the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) for official designation. The IAU serves as
the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to
celestial bodies and their surface features.

An image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera of the
Columbia Memorial Station and Columbia Hills is available on the
Internet at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/feb-02-2004/captions/image-10.html

For information about NASA and the Mars mission on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's
Office of Space Science, Washington. Additional information about the project
is available on the Internet at:

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov

-end-
Received on Mon 02 Feb 2004 07:36:46 PM PST