In the wake of the Challenger accident in 1986, The Astronauts Memorial Foundation was founded. crews on American Space Ships, as well as commercial crewmembers during FAA-approved exploratory or experimental spaceflight, who have lost their lives while on a U.S. government mission or in training. Twenty-five astronauts are now honored by AMF. AMF is a private, not-for-profit organization approved
by NASA to build and maintain two major facilities at the John F. Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex:
The Space Mirror Memorial, designated as a national memorial by Congress and President George Bush (H.J. Res. 214), was dedicated in 1991. The Center for Space Education, the "living memorial", was opened in 1994. Its mission is to foster an understanding of space exploration and to improve education through technology. Both of these facilities are truly gifts to the nation from the people of Florida. Most of the funds for constructing and maintaining these facilities have been accomplished with proceeds from the sales of Florida's Challenger/Columbia license plate. Thousands of corporations, foundations and individuals have also made contributions to AMF to support the facilities and the programs of the Foundation.
