“Fallen Astronaut” Left On The Moon

Many lives were lost while humanity endeavored to reach the stars. This memorial was placed on the surface of the moon in their memory.

Source: en.wikipedia.org  /  via: laughingsquid.com

On August 1st, 1971 the Fallen Astronaut memorial was installed by the crew of Apollo 15. Known as the first art on the moon, the tin man was commissioned by Belgian artist Pual Van Hoeydonck.

The plaque lists the names of fourteen men, eight American and six Soviet, who lost their lives in the pursuit of space flight. Unfortunately several deceased were left off the list. They included Soviet cosmonauts Valentin Bondarenko and Grigori Nelyubov, who's work had been so secret at the time no one outside the Soviet space program was aware of their death. Also left out were American astronauts Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. and Michael James Adams. Robert was the first African-American astronaut.

• Theodore Freeman (October 31, 1964, aircraft accident)
• Charles Bassett (February 28, 1966, aircraft accident)
• Elliott See (February 28, 1966, aircraft accident)
• Gus Grissom (January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 fire)
• Roger Chaffee (January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 fire)
• Edward White (January 27, 1967, Apollo 1 fire)
• Vladimir Komarov (April 24, 1967, Soyuz 1 re-entry parachute failure)
• Edward Givens (June 6, 1967 automobile accident)
• Clifton Williams (October 5, 1967, aircraft accident)
• Yuri Gagarin (March 27, 1968, aircraft accident)
• Pavel Belyayev (January 10, 1970, disease)
• Georgi Dobrovolski (June 30, 1971, Soyuz 11 re-entry pressurization failure)
• Viktor Patsayev (June 30, 1971, Soyuz 11 re-entry pressurization failure)
• Vladislav Volkov (June 30, 1971, Soyuz 11 re-entry pressurization failure)

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