NASA Day of Remembrance

In its history, NASA has had 3 great losses. Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967... Challenger on January 28, 1986... and Columbia on February 1, 2003.It certainly has not gone unnoticed by NASA that all three tragedies occurre... more >

In its history, NASA has had 3 great losses. Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967... Challenger on January 28, 1986... and Columbia on February 1, 2003. It certainly has not gone unnoticed by NASA that all three tragedies occurred within a week of each other yet in different decades. NASA chose January 26th as its Day of Remembrance to honor the lives, courage, and dedication of those who lost their lives in the pursuit of expanding man's understanding of the universe. This was a daunting task for any designer. How to create a tribute to all three crews in moving, somber and respectful manner. As a designer I collect images, experiences, impressions, and thoughts to one day be incorporated into the framework of my broadcast designs. It was actually a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC that was the inspiration for this piece. I had watched as groups of people moved slowly past the displays containing photographs, names and artifacts of those who lost their lives in the labor camps. I had remembered hearing people whisper the words honor, respect, courage, dignity as they passed the displays... that image had a powerful effect on me. Instead of playing a series of clips of each crew... I built a graphic display of still images, patches, designs, names and medals. I then had the electronic camera move slowly through the images accompanied by a moving melody. The photograph of Christa McAauliffe inspired the direction of the camera. The picture is of her during zero gravity training in NASA's KC-135. Since these were Astronauts being honored, the camera would float up past the display of images rather than pan across them. Of all the pieces for television I have created, this is one of he ones I am most proud of. NASA gave me the responsibility of honoring our fallen colleagues and heroes... and I was not about to let them down. Mark R. Hailey Art Director, NASA Television < less