[新闻] 美用哥伦比亚号7宇航员名字命名火星上7座山（图）

德新社报道，美国航空航天局星期二(3日)表示，火星上的七座山已用哥伦比亚号失事中丧生的七名宇航员的名字来命名。

　　航空航天局局长奥基夫宣布，美国将把“勇气号”火星探测器点东侧的七座山峰用失事宇航员的名字命名。他说：“哥伦比亚号机组面临空间的挑战，为探索宇宙作出了最大的牺牲。”

　　美国将向国际天文联合国提出申请，以正式通过这些命名。国际天文联合国安理会被公认为拥有对星体进行命名的权力。(春风）


来源： 中国新闻网  2004-02-04 18:02

PIA05200: NASA Dedicates Mars Landmarks to Columbia Crew

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the martian hills, located east of the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover's landing site, would be dedicated to the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew.
"These seven hills on Mars are named for those seven brave souls, the final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia crew faced the challenge of space and made the supreme sacrifice in the name of exploration," Administrator O'Keefe said.

The Shuttle Columbia was commanded by Rick Husband and piloted by William McCool. The mission specialists were Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark; and the payload specialist was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia and its crew were lost over the western United States during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere The 28th and final flight of Columbia was a 16-day mission dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences. The Columbia crew successfully conducted approximately 80 separate experiments during their mission.

This image, taken from Spirit's PanCam looking east, depicts the nearby hills dedicated to the final crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. Arranged alphabetically from left to right - "Anderson Hill" is the most northeast of Spirit's landing site and 3 kilometers away. Next are "Brown Hill" and "Chawla Hill", both 2.9 kilometers distant. Next is "Clark Hill" at 3 kilometers. "Husband Hill" and "McCool Hill", named for Columbia's commander and pilot respectively, are 3.1 and 4.2 kilometers distant. "Ramon Hill" is furthest southeast of Spirit's landing site and 4.4 kilometers away.

NASA will submit the names of the Mars features to the International Astronomical Union for official designation. The organization serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and their surface features.

The figure below is an image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera of the Columbia Memorial Station and Columbia Hills.