Posted: Wed, Jan 7, 2004, 11:43 AM ET (1643 GMT)
The landing site of NASA's Mars rover Spirit will be renamed to honor the crew of the shuttle Columbia, lost nearly one year ago. The landing site in Gusev Crater will now be known as the Columbia Memorial Station, NASA officials announced Tuesday. The spacecraft includes a small memorial plaque mounted on the back side of its high-gain antenna. An image of the plaque, taken by Spirit after landing, shows the STS-107 mission logo and the names of the seven astronauts on that mission. The new landing site designation must still be approved by the International Astronomical Union.
