Americans are honoring the sacrifice of men and women in the U.S. armed forces on this Memorial Day holiday today (May 30), with NASA marking the occasion with a respectful new video. The video showcases views of U.S. military memorials set to music.
"In recognition of Memorial Day, NASA remembers the men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces and the sacrifices they've made to preserve the freedoms, safety and liberties of Americans throughout our country and around the world," NASA officials wrote in a video description.
There are two Americans in space on this Memorial Day. They are NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Jeff Williams, who are living alongside four crewmates (three Russians and a British astronaut) on the International Space Station.
Kopra is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army who served in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm before training as a test pilot and joining NASA as a vehicle test engineer in 1998. Kopra joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2000 and is now on second long-duration flight and is commanding the space station. Williams is also a retired Army colonel who trained as an Army aviator and served with the 3rd Armored Division's aviation battalion before going on to become a test pilot. Williams joined NASA as an astronaut in 1996 and is making his third long-duration flight on the space station. He also flew one mission on space shuttle Atlantis during his career.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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