Olympic Flame Relit to Honor Shuttle Victims

Southern Californians Wednesday expressed their sorrow at the loss of the seven crew members who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger through prayers, memorials and the rekindling of the Olympic torch atop Memorial Coliseum.

In bold black letters, a large billboard across from City Hall in downtown Los Angeles read simply: “January 28, 1986” and listed the names of the Challenger’s seven crew members.

“Perhaps nowhere in this nation, aside from (the Kennedy Space Center area in Florida), is there a greater kinship with the astronauts than in Los Angeles County and Southern California. We are an integral part of the space program,” said Supervisor Deane Dana, president of the Coliseum Commission, who directed that the Olympics flame burn for seven days as a reminder of the tragedy.

Church Bells Toll

Throughout Southern California, the birthplace of the Challenger, flags were flown at half staff at schools and government buildings and church bells tolled as worshipers offered prayers in memory of the lost astronauts.

“The proudest thing we have as a nation is the ability to look to tomorrow’s flight, because there will be a tomorrow’s flight,” Don Muchmore, executive director of the County Museum of Science and Industry, told a somber gathering.

At the museum, a temporary plaque placed beneath a photograph of the Challenger crew reads, “We grieve for the loss of the Challenger astronauts.” A permanent plaque is to be placed beside another that honors the three Apollo astronauts who died in a launching pad fire in 1967.

The museum Friday will open an exhibit featuring Challenger astronaut Judith Resnik, who formerly worked for Xerox Corp. in El Segundo. Her fellow crew members, Ronald E. McNair and Gregory Jarvis, had worked for Hughes Aircraft.

Memorial Service

While living in Los Angeles, McNair had been a member of Trinity Baptist Church, where a memorial service will be held in his honor Wednesday.

In Hermosa Beach, where Jarvis lived, the City Council began planning to establish a memorial fund in his name. And members of Los Angeles’ Asian-American community, who recalled the participation of crew member Ellison S. Onizuka in Little Tokyo’s 1985 Nisei Week Festival, spoke of similar plans.

“There is anxiety in Little Tokyo that his name be remembered in a more permanent way, with perhaps a scholarship,” said Kats Kunitsugu of the Japanese-American Cultural and Community Center.