Hemphill museum to mark 21st anniversary of Shuttle Columbia tragedy

HEMPHILL, Texas (KTRE) - The Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum will honor the legacy of the Space Shuttle Columbia with special events planned on the 21st anniversary of the tragedy that unfolded in the skies over East Texas.

On Thursday, Feb. 1, the public is invited to the museum in Hemphill, to take part in a solemn observance in memory of the seven-member crew of Columbia’s STS-107 mission.

The museum will open at 7:30 a.m., with the program beginning 15 minutes later. A moment of silence will be observed at the time NASA lost contact with the orbiter’s crew. The names of the astronauts, as well as two volunteers who lost their lives during the 2003 search and recovery effort, will be read aloud.

Thursday’s activities will also include a special lecture by noted aerospace educator Brian Ewenson. A longtime supporter and friend of the ‘Remembering Columbia’ Museum, Ewenson is Executive Director of Spaceport Sheboygan and has previously trained astronauts for the Canadian Space Agency and worked for Lockheed Martin’s Space Day and Challenger Learning Centers. One of his experiments flew aboard STS-107 and was recovered among the debris located near Nacogdoches in 2003. Ewenson will share his personal connection to Columbia’s final flight in a keynote during the memorial program and will offer dynamic presentations for educators, students, and other visitors throughout the day in the main gallery. For years, the ‘Remembering Columbia’ Museum has been proud to feature a fantastic example of Space Shuttle thermal tile on loan from his personal collection.

First-time and return visitors are invited to explore the museum’s 3,400-square-foot main gallery, which features displays documenting Space Shuttle Columbia’s 28 missions, STS-107 artifacts, scale models, a flown-in-space shuttle launch suit, and a visual account of Columbia’s final mission and the recovery effort that followed. A shuttle flight deck simulator constructed by former NASA engineers allows visitors to take the controls and experience a virtual landing of the Space Shuttle. Also part of the permanent collection -- the accomplishments and personalities of the STS-107 crew members are illustrated through personal items and photos donated by their families.

A gift shop also features a wide variety of souvenirs, from apparel and astronaut food, to books, DVDs and NASA patches, including the ‘Hail & Farewell’ Columbia patch, which is available exclusively at the museum.

Hemphill ISD high school art students will again display their artwork in the museum as part of a special fundraiser through the end of February.

Free admission will be offered all day, as the museum is also marking its 13th anniversary of operation.

The Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum is located at 375 Sabine Street in Hemphill.