Twenty-five years ago, seven astronauts died aboard space shuttle Challenger when it exploded shortly after liftoff. 
 
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 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator (NASA) Charles Bolden lays a wreath at a Challenger memorial, at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, in... (Associated Press) 
 
 Henry Cruz, lower right, looks at a space shuttle Challenger replica honoring USAF Colonel Ellison Onizuka, the first Japanese American astronaut who died in the Challenger explosion in 1986, at a memorial... (Associated Press) 
 
 NASA officials will gather at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Friday morning to mark the somber anniversary. Special guests include the widow of Challenger's commander, June Scobee Rodgers. 
 
 She'll be the featured speaker at the outdoor ceremony. Her husband, Dick Scobee, died along with his six crewmates on Jan. 28, 1986. Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was among the dead. 
 
 Rodgers was instrumental in establishing the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. 
 
 The ceremony will take place at the Space Mirror Memorial, a granite monument bearing the names of all 24 astronauts who have died in the line of duty. 
 
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 NASA: http://history.nasa.gov/sts51l.html ||||| ARLINGTON, Va. – NASA Chief Charlie Bolden paid tribute to the agency's 17 fallen astronauts on Thursday in a short but solemn ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery -- a memorial made a little more raw by the 25th anniversary of the Challenger accident today.Trudging through a fresh layer of about four inches of snow, Bolden laid wreaths at shrines to the shuttle crews of Challenger and Columbia and then at the tombstones of two Apollo 1 astronauts who are interred in Arlington."We thank them and their families for their extraordinary sacrifices in service to our nation," said Bolden, who choked up toward the end of his speech. "These men and women will always be a part of us, and we're still building on their legacy."U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Science, Space, and Technology committee, also dabbed his eyes as about a dozen NASA employees paid their respects during NASA's annual Day of Remembrance.Each year, NASA honors its fallen astronauts in the final week of January, as each of the tragedies occurred at this time of year. On January 27, 1967, the three-member team of Apollo 1 – Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee -- died in a fire during a pre-launch test of their capsule.Nineteen years later, Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986. Columbia broke apart on Feb. 1, 2003 while re-entering the atmosphere. In each case, the seven-member crews were killed.It was the memory of Challenger that carried extra weight Thursday."The nation will never forget, and I will never forget, Jan. 28, 1986, or its indelible image," said Bolden, a former astronaut who described the Challenger crew, and that of Columbia, as "personal friends of mine."A quarter-century ago this morning, Challenger blew apart 73 seconds after liftoff, killing the astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire high-school educator and participant in NASA's Teacher in Space Project. Because of her involvement, schoolchildren nationwide had watched the launch.Her widower, Steven McAuliffe, issued a statement Thursday saying the country would be best served by remembering why she decided to join the Challenger crew – and not what happened afterward."Christa confidently and joyfully embraced life, no less than her friends and colleagues on Challenger, and no less than the crews of Columbia, Apollo 1, and all of those people who courageously follow their own paths every day," he said in a statement.Bolden echoed that sentiment as he stood, head bowed, at the shuttle memorials – a short walk from the Tomb of the Unknowns."They've all left their legacy of exploration for us to follow. They all lived and breathed NASA. They would tell you, if they came here today, to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so the things we learn and the things we do benefit all humankind," said the retired Marine Corps general, who did a slow roll call of the dead.A separate tribute to the Challenger crew is planned today by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The remembrance service starts at 9 a.m.Mark K. Matthews can be reached at 202-824-8222 or mmatthews@orlandosentinel.com
– NASA officials will gather at Kennedy Space Center today to mark the 25th anniversary of one of the worst disasters in the history of space travel. The space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after take-off on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee will be the featured speaker at today's ceremony, AP reports. NASA chief Charlie Bolden paid tribute to all 17 of the agency's fallen astronauts at a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, reports the Orlando Sentinel. "They've all left their legacy of exploration for us to follow. They all lived and breathed NASA," said Bolden, a former astronaut. "They would tell you, if they came here today, to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so the things we learn and the things we do benefit all humankind."