Jonathan H. Ward's Blog, page 2

Day of Remembrance Reflections – Part 2

I had the honor of attending the NASA Day of Remembrance ceremonies at Kennedy Space Center this morning, as a guest of Mike Leinbach. As much as I thought I was emotionally prepared for the event, I could not help being moved to tears several times during the course of the service.

During the opening acknowledgments, I was elated that Eileen Collins recognized Greg Cohrs from the US Forest Service for his tireless efforts to recover Columbia and her crew, from the day of the accident until t...

Reflections on NASA’s Day of Remembrance

by Mike Leinbach and Jonathan Ward

[image error]On January 25, NASA and our extended NASA Family will pause to remember the astronauts who lost their lives in service to our country.

The Day of Remembrance was instituted by then-Administrator Sean O’Keefe in 2004. He decreed that the last Thursday in January would be set aside to remember the astronauts who gave their lives in the line of duty.

This year will mark the 51st anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire, 32 years since the Challenger accident, and the 1...

Book Tour Schedule

“Bringing Columbia Home” was officially released today! Demand has been unexpectedly high. Our publisher has already ordered a second printing!

Mike and I have several busy weeks ahead of us as we commemorate the crew of STS-107  and celebrate the accomplishments of the 25,000 Americans who worked to recover Columbia.

Here’s where we’ll be in the coming weeks. Please come by and say hi if you’re nearby!

Thursday, January 25: NASA Day of Remembrance. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Progr...

Discussing Columbia at the George W. Bush Presidential Center

Mike and I were privileged to be invited to speak at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas on January 16. Our host was Kevin Sullivan, former communications assistant to President Bush. Sean O’Keefe, NASA’s Administrator during the Columbia accident, sponsored the event. Also on hand were Bill Readdy (three-time space shuttle astronaut and former associate administrator at NASA) and Ron Castleman (regional director of FEMA).

The talk coincided with the 15th anniversary of the launc...

Aerospace America Article

In mid-November, I was surprised to get an email from astronaut Thomas Jones, a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions, requesting an interview. It was a surprise because I’m usually the one asking to interview astronauts, not the other way around! Tom attended the presentation that Mike and I gave at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation earlier in the month, and it inspired him to write an article for Aerospace America, a journal published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astrona...

“Texas Journey” Magazine Interview

This interview with Mike and me appears in the January/February 2018 issue of “Texas Journey” Magazine, the publication of the Texas AAA. It encourages people to consider a visit to the Remembering Columbia Museum in Hemphill, Texas. Mike and I will be speaking there on February 1, 2018, the 15th anniversary of the Columbia accident.

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Texas Journey article AAA Dec 2017 0118_TEX_GoingPlaces

A Dream Realized!

This is a follow-up to our post from July 22, 2017 (“Why Is the Book Taking So Long?“) in which we discussed how impatient we were all feeling about seeing the book in print.

The great new is: the book has been printed! We received the first shipment yesterday. It’s being shipped to booksellers this week, and it will be on the shelves in early January.

I took advantage of this happy event to recap what it took to bring this book to you. It’s just a brief snapshot of some of the milestones and...

Mike and Jonathan at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation “2017 Space Rendezvous”

Mike and I were invited to speak at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation’s “Space Rendezvous” in Cocoa Beach, Florida in November this year. Our presentation was entitled “Columbia Recovery and Reconstruction: An American Story of Courage, Compassion, and Commitment.” It was the first time Mike and I had jointly given a talk, and what an audience it was—ASF board members, at least a dozen astronauts, former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, people who had worked on the Space Shuttle Program, a...

The Book Is Going to Press December 8!

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that “Bringing Columbia Home” is going to press tomorrow!

Mike and I began collaborating on this book in April 2015. On one hand, it feels like ages since we started this project. On the other hand, the time has flown by. We’ve met so many amazing folks along the way and heard so many incredible stories about how Columbia touched people’s lives. I can’t express enough how profoundly rewarding it has been to help bring the story of Columbia’s hero...

The Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Program

One of the most positive outgrowths from the Columbia accident remains the Debris Loan Program. I have sung its praise in earlier posts, and for good reason. Another initiative underway has equal or greater positive potential.

Something more meaningful than studying the debris in order to design safer spacecraft? Yes. What about something to deal with some of the common root causes of America’s manned spaceflight accidents? To deal with them BEFORE they become big problems.

This is NASA’s Apo...