Space Shuttle Columbia Crew Memorialized on Mars
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, honors the crew of STS-107
Shortly after the rover landed on Mars it revealed a special plaque it brought along bearing the names of Space Shuttle Columbia and her seven crew members.
In honor of Columbia and her crew, NASA has named Spirit's landing site, the "Columbia Memorial Station," a fitting tribute to the Columbia crew, who gave their lives in the spirit of exploration.
Spirit sent back a picture of the memorial plaque, mounted on the back of its high gain antenna.
Measuring about 6 inches in diameter, the plaque was designed by engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and placed on Spirit's high gain antenna.
The memorial plaque was installed on Spirit at Kennedy Space Center's Payload Servicing Facility in March 2003.