Space Shuttle Columbia Inukshuk Memorials, January 27, 2005
McCool Crossing.
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To honor the memory of the seven astronauts of Space Shuttle Columbia's last flight, and at the suggestion of our colleague Keith Cowing of SpaceRef, the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) has established seven astronaut memorial sites on Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic, during the summer field seasons of 2003 and 2004.
Each site was chosen for its special significance in the NASA HMP's analog exploration program near Haughton Crater, and is marked by an Inukshuk, a traditional Inuit "Stone Person". The Inuit erect Inukshuks to mark land and to guide and comfort travelers on perilous journeys across the Arctic. At the base of each our Columbia Inukshuks, a sealed container was placed, enclosing the following in memoriam items: the bio of one of the seven Columbia astronauts, a patch of the crew's shuttle mission, and a patch of the NASA Haughton-Mars Project.
It is our hope that the Columbia Inukshuks on Devon Island will help bring peace to all those who continue to miss these seven astronauts, and will help inspire and guide future generations of space explorers who will journey to the Moon, Mars and Beyond.
Visit the Space Shuttle Columbia Inukshuk Memorials.
Pascal Lee
NASA HMP Principal Investigator
