The ceremony will also honor the three Apollo 1 veteran astronauts who tragically lost their lives to a fire that engulfed their cockpit during a test launch 49 years ago, on January 27th, 1967. It was the first manned mission of the famous Apollo lunar landing program, and it was supposed to launch on February 21st, 1967 to enter low-Earth orbit. NASA used what it learned from the failed mission to make sure the next ones were a success.

Of course, the space agency isn't forgetting the seven crew members who lost their lives when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas on February 1st, 2003. The hot gases that seeped into its wings caused it to disintegrate while reentering the atmosphere. NASA's senior officials will hold a ceremony starting at 11AM today, January 28th, at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Employees at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, on the other hand, will light candles in the astronauts' memory. You can also join in by watching a live stream of the wreath-laying ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center, starting at 10AM EST, on NASA TV.

[Image: NASA/Flickr]