The Nation : Pilot of Challenger Buried

Navy Capt. Michael J. Smith, who died in the Jan. 28 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Six white horses, guided by a seventh, pulled Smith’s coffin on an ancient caisson to the grave site overlooking Washington, following an afternoon memorial service attended by friends, colleagues and family. “We lost him long before we could afford his loss,” said Cmdr. Richard H. Purnell, who attended the U.S. Naval Academy with Smith and delivered the eulogy. A black granite tombstone identifies Smith as the pilot of the Challenger and was engraved with a Navy insignia with a shooting star through it.