Shuttle Monument Dedicated At Space Walk of Fame
By dedicated on Saturday at Space View Park // November 3, 2014
dedicated on Saturday at the Space View Park
BREVARD COUNTY • TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA – A 15 foot tall monument to the NASA space shuttle program was dedicated on Saturday at the Space View Park in Titusville.
The monument, which cost $350,000 to construct, was largely funded by the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, a nearby not-for-profit educational center dedicated to commemorating the work of NASA astronauts and ground operation personnel.
The monument itself consists of six large black panels constructed of granite that bear information regarding each of the shuttle missions and is capped with a stainless steel emblem, weighing eight tons, in the shape of the space shuttle as it appeared on the launch pad before lifting off into orbit.
Several NASA workers, both active and retired, were on hand to attend the dedication of the new monument, which took place Saturday at the park. The monument was a fitting honor not just to astronauts but the tireless work of ground crews who helped these missions become successful said Fred Gregory, a former astronaut himself.
Gregory had served as a pilot and mission commander on three separate shuttle missions in the past.
Astronauts don’t deserve all the credit, Gregory said. In fact, he was insistent thatthe lion’s share of the credit needs to go to the ground crew, that 40,000 person strong cadre of scientists and engineers that worked around the clock and across the globe to ensure that each shuttle mission was as successful and safe as possible.
Ceremony attendee Andy Allen, Gregory’s fellow astronaut, cracked wise about the supposed glamour and fame that accompanies the job.
He too was pleased to see that the monument also honored the tireless work of all the ground crew members. Allen said that being strapped into a rocket isn’t exactly the hard part, recounting how his mother would tell him that it’s not exactly a mark of intelligence to let yourself be strapped into a massive incendiary device and launched into orbit.
The monument, like the park, is open to the public.
