Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Monument

What a great little gem in our city! I had no idea it was here. I was watching the day the Challenger exploded. I still remember how I felt. I am glad there is this monument to the astronauts and especially to Onizuka.

It’s so close to Little Tokyo, why not pay a little visit? Learn a little something about this monument and who it was built for. And if not, then visit for a small photo-​up.

Was the Challenger model refurbished? It used to be so faded and ignored and I don’t remember it being this detailed.
Looks like someone’s been showing the fallen shuttle some TLC, and good on them. I mean, the statue is flawless these days. It looks like a perfect scale model that was put together last week or something. The stickers seem brand new and the colors just pop.
Anyway, this memorial commemorates the life of astronaut Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, the first Japanese-​American in space. He perished on the Space Shuttle Challenger when it disintegrated shortly after its launch. NASA’s archival photos of him show a man who ate food in zero gravity with chopsticks (photo:
) and wearing a kamikaze headband in flight (source:
).
In the event of the Challenger’s destruction it was likely Onizuka triggered the pilot’s Personal Egress Air Pack, attempting to save him.
Ellison, arguably, has the coolest monument in the city.