high res (4.2 M) STS108-339-020 (5-17 December 2001) — Astronauts Mark E. Kelly (left), STS-108 pilot, and Daniel M. Tani, mission specialist, hold a bag of several American flags on the aft flight deck of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The flags carried on the shuttle include 6,000 small U.S. flags, one U.S. flag that was recovered from the debris of the World Trade Center, a Marine Corps flag that was retrieved from the Pentagon, and an American flag from the State of Pennsylvania. Also onboard, is a large New York Fire Department flag, 23 replica New York Police Department shields, and 91 New York Police Department patches. |
An American flag recovered from the debris in the days immediately following
the
terrorist attacks in New York will be returned to the city during a special
presentation scheduled for Flag Day, June 14. The American Museum of Natural
History will host the event at the Rose Center for Earth and Space.
The tattered flag, recovered by the city’s police department, was flown into
space in December on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-108 as part of
the agency’s Flags for Heroes and Families campaign. The large American flag,
along with other commemorative badges and patches, were flown with nearly 6,000
smaller American flags that will be presented to the victims’ families in New
York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Media representatives are invited to the presentation, which begins Friday at
2:30 p.m. EDT. Due to security restrictions, reporters who want to attend must
call the American Museum of Natural History at 212/769-5800. The ceremony will
be
broadcast live on NASA Television.
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe will return the items flown into orbit to New
York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki, and representatives from
the New York Police Department, the New York fire Department and the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The presentation will also feature a commemorative message from the American
members of the Expedition Four crew, who were carried into space by Endeavour
and
are now preparing to come home after a record-setting mission on board the
International Space Station. Opening remarks will come from Ellen Futter,
President of the American Museum of Natural History.
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent
scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869,
the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and
disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the
universe through a wide-reaching program of scientific research, education, and
exhibitions. In February 2000, the Museum opened its most ambitious endeavor
ever – the monumental 120-foot-high, 335,500 square-foot Frederick Phineas &
Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space.
NASA TV is broadcast on the GE2 satellite, Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West
longitude, frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz.
Items flown to honor the memory of the victims at the Pentagon and in
Pennsylvania will be returned as appropriate events can be identified and
scheduled. Distribution of the American flags for the survivors and families of
the victims will be handled by the city of New York, the Department of Defense,
American Airlines and United Airlines.
Additional information about the Rose Center is available on the Internet at:
http://www.amnh.org/rose/index.html
