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Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Image 2 of 4 This November 1985 file provided by NASA shows the crew of the doomed US space shuttle Challenger. Front row from left are: astronauts Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Ron McNair, back row from left: Ellison Onizuka, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judith Resnik. less This November 1985 file provided by NASA shows the crew of the doomed US space shuttle Challenger. Front row from left are: astronauts Mike Smith, Dick Scobee, Ron McNair, back row from left: Ellison Onizuka, ... more Image 3 of 4 Space Shuttle Columbia crew, left to right, front row, Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool, back row, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon are shown in this undated crew photo. less Space Shuttle Columbia crew, left to right, front row, Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool, back row, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon are shown in this ... more Image 4 of 4 Take a moment today to remember our nation's fallen astronauts 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

It’s that somber time of year when we take a few moments in Houston, the home of NASA astronauts, to remember the three crews who sacrificed their lives for the advancement of human exploration.

Apollo 1: On Jan. 27, 1967, during a pre-flight test on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy, astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee lost their lives when a fire swept through the command module. Theirs was to be the first crewed flight of the Apollo program.

Challenger: On the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, seven astronauts died when a booster engine failed, causing the Shuttle Challenger to break apart just 73 seconds after launch. The astronauts on board were Francis (Dick) Scobee, Ronald McNair, Mike Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik and Ellison Onizuka.

Columbia: On Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere due to damage sustained by its heat shield during takeoff. Astronauts on board were Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Blair Salton Clark.

I was 12 years old when Challenger exploded, and I remember it vividly. Ronald Reagan’s speech after the accident will always be with me as well.

For me it remains the gold standard for talking to kids about tragedies such as these, especially these lines:

“And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s take-off. I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.”

The future does belong to the brave. We would be wise to not forget that.