Arlington National Cemetery
The Space Shuttle "Challenger" Memorial was dedicated on May 20, 1986, in memory of the crew of flight STS-51-L, who died during launch on January 28, 1986. Transcribed on the back of the stone is the text of the John Gillespie Magee, Jr. poem "High Flight", which was quoted by then President Ronald Reagan when he addressed the disaster. Although many remains were identified and returned to the families for private burial, some were not, and were laid to rest under the marker. Two crew members, Scobee and Smith, are buried in Arlington. On February 1, 2004, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe dedicated a similar memorial to those who died when the Shuttle "Columbia" broke apart during reentry on February 1, 2003. Astronauts Laurel Clark, David Brown and Michael Anderson, who were killed in the "Columbia" disaster, are also buried in Arlington.
MV Columbia
Early on 15 August 2007, only two months before a scheduled overhaul, position number two connecting rod in the Columbia's starboard engine experienced a bearing failure. To prevent catastrophic damage to the surrounding components the engine was secured. The 268 passengers were rerouted, and it was sent to Ketchikan, where it was originally planned to be repaired within the week. Soon it became apparent that it would require further work, and in a controversial decision the Marine Highway System chose to cancel all further summer voyages on the ship pending repairs. Nearly all the other ships in the fleet were rerouted to make up for the loss of what many consider to be the flagship of the fleet, and many passengers were urged to seek alternative travel means to help ease the pressure on the system. Transferred to Cascade General Shipyard at Swan Island in the Portland, Oregon area; both main engines were disassembled and overhauled. As of May 19, 2008 the MV Columbia left Cascade General and sailed to Bellingham, WA to begin active service.