Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs<br />Headquarters, Washington Jan. 6, 2004<br />(Phone: 202/358-1898/1600)<br /><br /><br />Guy Webster<br />Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br />(Phone: 818/354-5011)<br /><br /><br />RELEASE: 04-009<br /><br /><br />SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA CREW MEMORIALIZED ON MARS<br /><br /><br /> NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced plans to <br />name the landing site of the Mars Spirit Rover in honor of the <br />astronauts who died in the tragic accident of the Space Shuttle <br />Columbia in February. The area in the vast flatland of the <br />Gusev Crater where Spirit landed this weekend will be called <br />the Columbia Memorial Station.<br /><br /><br />Since its historic landing, Spirit has been sending <br />extraordinary images of its new surroundings on the red planet <br />over the past few days. Among them, an image of a memorial <br />plaque placed on the spacecraft to Columbia's astronauts and <br />the STS-107 mission.<br /><br /><br />The plaque is mounted on the back of Spirit's high-gain <br />antenna, a disc-shaped tool used for communicating directly <br />with Earth. The plaque is aluminum and approximately six inches <br />in diameter. The memorial plaque was attached March 28, 2003, <br />at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy <br />Space Center, Fla. Chris Voorhees and Peter Illsley, Mars <br />Exploration Rover engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion <br />Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., designed the plaque.<br /><br /><br />"During this time of great joy for NASA, the Mars Exploration <br />Rover team and the entire NASA family paused to remember our <br />lost colleagues from the Columbia mission. To venture into <br />space, into the unknown, is a calling heard by the bravest, <br />most dedicated individuals," said NASA Administrator Sean <br />O'Keefe. "As team members gazed at Mars through Spirit's eyes, <br />the Columbia memorial appeared in images returned to Earth, a <br />fitting tribute to their own spirit and dedication. Spirit <br />carries the dream of exploration the brave astronauts of <br />Columbia held in their hearts."<br /><br /><br />Spirit successfully landed on Mars Jan. 3. It will spend the <br />next three months exploring the barren landscape to determine <br />if Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life. Spirit's <br />twin, Opportunity, will reach Mars on Jan. 25 to begin a <br />similar examination of a site on the opposite side of the <br />planet.<br /><br /><br />A copy of the image is available on the Internet at: <br />http://www.nasa.gov