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To honor the 100th Anniversary of the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay, President Obama officially declared January 21 “National Angel Island Day”:

“One hundred years ago, the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay opened for the first time, and an important chapter of the American narrative began. It would be written by those who walked through the station’s doors over the next three decades. From the cities, villages, and farms of their birth, they journeyed across the Pacific, seeking better lives for themselves and their children. Many arrived at Angel Island, weary but hopeful, only to be unjustly confined for months or, in some cases, years. As we remember their struggle, we honor all who have been drawn to America by dreams of limitless opportunity…” read the rest of the proclamation at whitehouse.gov >>>

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Historically, this week has not been very nice to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As a result, they have designated the last Thursday in January as NASA’s Remembrance Day to honor the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, as well as “all members of the NASA family who lost their lives in the exploration of space”.

On January 27, 1967, Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died on the launchpad during the Apollo 1 “plugs out test” when the cabin caught on fire and they were unable to open the hatch in time.

On January 28, 1986, Dick Scobee (commander), Ellison S. Onizuka, Greg Jarvis, Judy Resnik, Michael J. Smith, Ron McNair and Sharon Christa McAuliffe (first TISP member) died when the Space Shuttle Challenger and external tank rapidly disintegrated 73 seconds into flight after an o-ring seal failed at lift-off.

On February 1, 2003, Rick Husband (commander), Willie McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Laurel B. Clark, David M. Brown, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon and Kalpana Chawla died when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry due to damage sustained to its insulation during lift-off.

These seventeen people, along with others, who died in the furtherance of mankind through exploration, have been a testament to what we can accomplish if follow our dreams, and what tragedies might befall us if we get too headstrong. They deserve the utmost admiration, the deepest sadness, and our never-ending remembrance.

“The arrival of a new year reminds us that life is a journey, one that takes us on many unexpected paths. NASA’s role is to pioneer journeys into the unknown for the benefit of humanity. Along the way, we sometimes experience tragedy instead of triumph.

President Barack Obama”

I wanted to make sure I got to this before the end of the year. A week ago was the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission.

Now, most casual observers look at the Apollo program and think of Armstrong and Aldrin on Apollo 11. Thanks to Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, that will now be joined by Jim Lovell on Apollo 13 (i’m assuming no one casual remembers Fred Haise or Jack Swigert). Sadly, I fear most people even forget the names of Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who died on the launch pad of Apollo 1.

The remaining ten people who walked on the moon will probably never cross these people’s lips. So, I certainly imagine most people will not have any idea about Apollo 8, which in its own right, was as significant as Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin walking around the Sea of Tranquility.

On December 21, 1968, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders sat in a capsule atop the Saturn V rocket and launched into space. Their mission was to take them out of Earth’s gravitational pull and orbit the moon. The first time any human had broken free of the natural bonds of this planet.

No, they didn’t walk on the moon, but they didn’t have to. Without those three men proving to us that we could make it to the moon and back, families across the country wouldn’t have gathered around their televisions on the evening of July 20, 1969 to watch that other incredibly historic event.

In a year fill with so much tragedy and turbulence, these three men gave us hope, and the most serene view any human had seen.

To paraphrase the words of one American to Colonel Borman, they saved 1968.