A tribute to NASA's fallen space heroes is now on display for all to see, including some items for the first time ever since the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

It's been nearly 30 years after space shuttle Challenger exploded, and more than a decade since shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry.

Recovered pieces from both orbiters have been kept under NASA'S lock and key ever since.

Now for the first time, a collection of artifacts in the Forever Remembered exhibit is being seen by the public -- here at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

"It just brought back different emotions," says patron Carrie Campbell.

Campbell watched the Challenger explode on TV, and today, nearly 30 years later, she brought her three young children from Wisconsin to see this tribute.

Each wasn't even born when the tragedies happened.

After walking through, she knows they have a new appreciation for the sacrifices all 14 astronauts on board made for America's space program.

"You realize there is a human side of it," says Campbell.

Part of the exhibit, pieces of shuttles Challenger and Columbia that the public has never seen before.

There's a 12-foot section of Challenger's fuselage, with the American flag on the front.

And the cockpit frame from Columbia.

Each astronaut is represented in displays filled with personal items.

Showing facts about their life and who they were.

The Gorman family of New Jersey took their time going through the solemn display.

Cathy Gorman, a Pre-K school teacher, was particularly touched by the memorial to Christa McAuliffe, chosen for the first Teacher in Space mission -- that Challenger launch.

"It's very, very touching. It's a beautiful tribute," she says with tears in her eyes.

Exactly what NASA wants it to be, as the memory of these space heroes lives on for generations to come.

The shuttles' debris was housed for years inside both the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building and an abandoned missile silo at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.