This document commemorates the 17th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle explosion and pays tribute to the 7 astronauts who lost their lives when the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated upon reentry on February 1, 2003. It asks readers to keep the families of those who died in both tragedies in their prayers and to share the message in memory of the astronauts who sacrificed their lives advancing space exploration.

16. This is a sad day indeed. It was 17 years and 3 days ago that we lost people in the Challenger explosion (January 28, 1986) Let's keep the families that lost their loved ones today in prayer please. In Memory of Space Shuttle Columbia Astronauts Commander Rick Husband Pilot William McCool Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon Payload Commander Michael Anderson Mission Specialist David Brown Mission Specialist Laurel Clark Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla

17. PLEASE PASS THIS ON ! THANKS, REUTERS