Astronauts Day
Astronauts Day | |
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Observed by | United States |
Type | Day of remembrance of NASA astronauts |
Date | Last Friday in January |
2023 date | January 27 (2023-01-27) |
2024 date | January 26 (2024-01-26) |
2025 date | January 31 (2025-01-31) |
2026 date | January 30 (2026-01-30) |
Astronauts Day is an American holiday, dedicated to NASA astronauts and their achievements. It is a "floating" holiday, observed on the last Friday of January.
Overview
This date was chosen[citation needed] to commemorate a number of space-related disasters which took place around this time, including the 27 January 1967 deaths of Command Pilot Virgil Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward Higgins White, and Pilot Roger Chaffee aboard Apollo 1,[1] and disasters involving the Space Shuttle Challenger on 28 January 1986,[2] and the Space Shuttle Columbia on 1 February 2003.[3]
Observants of this holiday are asked to light a candle in their window, reflect on the sacrifices astronauts have made, and re-dedicate themselves to a personal dream or goal of their own, a reference to a quote from Alan Shepard. While stuck in his suit for hours during a space mission, enduring technical delays, his patience gave out and he said "Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle!"[4]
See also
- Cosmonautics Day (Russia and some former USSR countries)
- National Astronaut Day (USA)
- Yuri's Night
References
- v
- t
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History (creation) |
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General |
programs
Past |
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Current |
Past | |
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Current |
missions
(human and robotic)
Past |
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Currently operating |
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Future |
and navigation
and artwork
- Earthrise
- The Blue Marble
- Family Portrait
- Pillars of Creation
- Mystic Mountain
- Solar System Family Portrait
- The Day the Earth Smiled
- Fallen Astronaut
- Deep fields
- Lunar plaques
- Pioneer plaques
- Voyager Golden Record
- Apollo 11 goodwill messages
- NASA insignia
- Gemini and Apollo medallions
- Mission patches
- Hubble Space Telescope anniversary images
- "We choose to go to the Moon"
- Apollo 8 Genesis reading
- Apollo 15 postal covers incident
- Space Mirror Memorial
- The Astronaut Monument
- Lunar sample displays
- U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
- Space program on U.S. stamps
- Apollo 17 Moon mice
- Moon tree
- Other primates in space
- NASA International Space Apps Challenge
- Astronauts Day
- National Astronaut Day
- Nikon NASA F4
- Category
- Commons