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Fortsetzung von Teil1:
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Utah's contribution to the success of our Nation's space program goes on and on, but let it suffice to say, that the entire State of Utah mourns for the loss of these brave astronauts. We pray for their families and those they have left behind.
Now is not the time to take a huge step backward in our space program and send the message to the next generation of Americans that when things get hard or when plans go wrong, we should give up . . . give up and let our dreams and aspirations fall victim to a task that appears hopelessly difficult.
No, now is not that time.
Now is the time when we need to stare adversity in the face. Learn from past mistakes. Refocus our vision on what we can accomplish by working together toward a unified goal. Now is the time to raise a new generation of heroes and teach them how to overcome difficult circumstances.
Yes, America will continue its space program. We will be more than mere spectators of the universe. We will be active participants and we will train a new generation of explorers who will build on the foundation laid by these great astronauts abroad the Space Shuttle Columbia. Who knows what this new generation may discover? With the rapid pace of technological advances and the courage to conquer the unknown, it is sure to be something great.
Elaine and I send our very strongest condolences to the families of the astronauts who have lost their lives in the service of their country. We will pray for those families and pray that somehow they will be comforted in this hour of need.
I personally know what it is like to lose a member of the family while serving our country. My older brother was killed in the Second World War at the Ploesti oil raid that helped to knock out Hitler's oil supply. It was a very difficult thing for our family, and it still is. In the last month, I have been reading the letters he wrote to my mother and I have gotten to know him better than I ever thought I would--as a person who gave his life for us and did it willingly so that we might be free.
These astronauts have given their lives for us and they have given them willingly, helping us to be free, to have a better society, to explore in this day and age, much like Lewis and Clark did in their day and age, the outreaches of the universe and help us to gain scientifically every step of the way. I am grateful to them and their families and I pray for them.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii is recognized.
Mr. AKAKA. Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues on this sad and solemn afternoon to honor the lives of our brave astronaut heroes: the seven crew members of the Space Shuttle Columbia who were lost Saturday morning on their return from a 16-day scientific mission in outer space.
As we honor the memory of the Columbia crew, Shuttle Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Payload Commander Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist David Brown, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, I send my heartfelt sympathy to their families and loved ones.
This is a national and international tragedy that has brought people and nations around the globe together in grief and remembrance. The men and women onboard the Columbia epitomized the best and brightest our country has to offer, and the participation of other nations in the shuttle program illustrates the collaboration and interconnection between America and other nations in the peaceful exploration of space and progress of scientific inquiry. The Columbia crew, like most of the men and women in our space program, came to NASA as successful and respected leaders from their respective professions. As scientists, doctors, surgeons, aviators, and military officers, they sought to share their expertise in the service of our Nation and mankind. In the decades since Sputnik and John Glenn's orbital mission of the earth in the Friendship 7, people around the world have been fascinated with possibilities of space exploration. The shuttle program opened the reality of space exploration to astronauts from many nations and caught the interest of young people around the world.
Colonel Ramon, Israel's first astronaut and one of his nation's premier air force pilots, captured the imagination of the Israeli people. His participation in the shuttle program stirred a great sense of pride and hope in a nation that has endured so much conflict and violence over the past two years. Dr. Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman to go into space, is a national heroine in India and a great inspiration to young people in both that land of her birth and her adopted home, especially young women and girls who saw Dr. Chawla as a role model for the possibilities and opportunities available to them.
As we mourn the loss of these brave individuals, men and women who willingly assumed the risk of space travel in their dedication to science and the expansion of human knowledge to new frontiers, we are reminded of the human spirit for exploration and discovery. Indeed, the quintessential trait of the American national character is the sense of adventure and curiosity that led pioneers and homesteaders westward, impelled men and women in Europe and Asia to emigrate to a new, vast, and unknown Nation with only the promise of opportunity and prosperity, and embraced President Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon.
America has been peopled by men and women driven by this spirit, and it is a quality we greatly admire and respect in our leaders and fellow citizens. The crew of the Columbia fully understood that there are many dangers associated with space flight, but looked beyond them while seeking to bring forth wisdom and reason from the vast unknown through space exploration and research. The crew understood that the experiments they were conducting on a wide array of medical and scientific subjects held the promise of major scientific advancements and benefit to mankind.
In the coming weeks and months, we must investigate what caused this tragedy and ensure that manned space flight is safe for our men and women who dedicate their lives to space exploration. As we scour the earth for answers to this tragedy, we must not lose sight of the heavens, or allow our fascination with exploring, discovering, or dreaming to wane. For by reaffirming our resolve to explore the wonders and mysteries of the universe, we honor the memory of the Columbia's crew, and the memory of all those astronauts who lost their lives in our Nation's endeavor to understand outer space.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. AKAKA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time under the quorum calls be equally divided; in addition, I ask unanimous consent that the previous quorum calls be equally divided.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. AKAKA. I thank the Chair. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I join my colleagues in expressing our gratefulness to the seven heroes who were lost on the Space Shuttle Columbia Saturday as they completed a mission of science to benefit the world.
I also share my thoughts and prayers with the families they've left behind.
Over the past few days, we have seen an outpouring of support from people all over the world for these seven remarkable individuals, and the work they carried out so selflessly.
From formal memorial services--like the one held in Houston today--to more spontaneous tributes throughout America, Israel, India and other nations, people around the world have shared their words of loss and appreciation.
Frankly, there is little I can add to the chorus of eloquent voices we have heard over the past few days.
But what I can do--and what I am honored to do on behalf of the people I represent--is to share with the Senate how two members of this amazing crew touched the lives of many in my home State of Washington.
Columbia pilot William McCool was a Commander in the United States Navy. He served two tours at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington State.
Commander McCool was an EA-6B pilot serving in both the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 133 and the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 132.
His colleague, Columbia Payload Commander Michael Anderson, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force. Colonel Anderson had long ties to the Spokane area in Washington State.
Both of these astronauts touched lives in Washington State. Both were accomplished pilots. Both were pillars in their communities. Both were strong family members.
On Saturday afternoon, I called the Commander of the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Over the years, I have had an opportunity to work with the fine crews at NAS Whidbey Island. I have shared both good times and bad times with them. When I called on Saturday just a few hours after the disaster, I knew the air crews and the families would be struggling with Commander McCool's death.
I spoke with Captain Steven Black. I had expected to hear stories of Willie McCool's service at NAS Whidbey earlier in his distinguished career. I heard that--and so much more--as Captain Black told me about this man who was so revered by his fellow Naval airmen at Whidbey.
Willie was a role model to young flyers at Whidbey. They all followed his career and his many accomplishments in the Air Force and as an astronaut with NASA.
Captain Black told me about his recent E-mails with Commander McCool.
Just 2 days before, Commander McCool took the time to E-mail his friends and colleagues at Whidbey. Whidbey Island had an effect on Willie McCool. And Willie McCool had an impact on NAS Whidbey Island that lives on in the mission and the talents of the Naval personnel serving there.
As Captain Black told a reporter,
Willie flew the skies of Washington state. He was a talented pilot. He was very enthusiastic about his work. He had a contagious sense of awe and wonder at the science behind the flying he loved.
And Commander McCool touched lives in communities beyond NAS Whidbey.
One of those communities is Anacortes, WA, where he and his family lived and continue to own a home. Anacortes is north of Oak Harbor and NAS Whidbey. It is a small town that took immense pride in having Commander McCool as a neighbor, a parent, and a fellow outdoorsman. Commander McCool's appreciation for Anacortes and the local community was with him on the Columbia mission.
He took with him a Douglas Fir Cone from the Little Cranberry Lake area. That cone represented the seeds of a future generation.
Commander McCool's commitment and service to future generations is now represented on the sign outside of Fidalgo Elementary School. That sign says, ``Fidalgo salutes a legacy of a good friend, Commander William McCool.''
Let me now turn to another Columbia hero with ties to Washington State, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson.
On Sunday morning, parishioners of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Spokane gathered to worship and pay tribute to him. Michael Anderson and his family are long time members of the congregation.
Speaking of Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, Reverend Freeman Simmons offered words of comfort to friends of the Anderson family.
Reverend Freedom said,
He belonged to more than his family, more than his race, more than his different affiliations. He belonged to this age.
Michael Anderson was born in New York State. He and his family came to Spokane, WA, during his father's Air Force service at Fairchild Air Force Base. He graduated from Cheney High School and came across the Cascades to attend the University of Washington. At UW, Anderson earned degrees in both physics and astronomy. He went on to a career in the Air Force as pilot and was selected to join NASA and the space program in 1994.
Lieutenant Colonel Anderson was one of the veterans aboard Columbia. He previously spent 211 hours in space on the 89th shuttle mission in 1998 to the Russian space station MIR. On that mission, Anderson traveled 3.6 million miles in 138 orbits around the Earth aboard the shuttle Endeavor.
Aboard the Columbia, Payload Commander Anderson was responsible for the incredible science being conducted during the mission. His mission was to manage 79 experiments on behalf of several space agencies and school children in many countries.
Michael Anderson considered Spokane his hometown, and Spokane is proud of his service. Today, all across Spokane, the community has posted its respect and admiration for our lost astronauts. One sign on Division Street reads, ``NASA we mourn with you.'' Another reads, ``Remember our Astronauts.''
Lieutenant Colonel Anderson's many contributions to space and science will live as a lasting tribute to an accomplished and heroic American. Let me mention just one.
Following Michael's successful 1998 shuttle mission, he returned to Washington State and the Spokane area. In May 1998, he want back to his alma mater, Cheney High School. He shared his experiences with students and he returned a school pennant which he had taken with him into space on that first mission.
One of the teachers described his appearance at a school assembly saying:
His message to the kids was so upbeat and so positive. ``It doesn't matter what your dream is. If you are willing to chart the course, if you are willing to do what it takes, you can achieve your dreams.'' When that assembly was over, no one wanted to leave. They all wanted to stay and talk to Mike.
Both of these men left families. These men were spouses, fathers, community leaders, role models in service to our country. They will be missed by their families and a grateful nation. We will stand with the families as they grieve. We will be with them as the Nation seeks answers to the Columbia tragedy, and we will join them in honoring their loved ones as space exploration and discovery go forward. Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, and all of our Columbia astronauts gave so much of their lives in service and exploration. Our task now is to ensure their spirit continues to deliver the wonders of space that they explored on our behalf.
I continue with the words from Willie McCool in an e-mail message to his colleagues at NAS Whidbey. Commander McCool spoke of seeing the Sun rise and set on the Earth from space and wrote:
The colors are stunning.
In a single view, I see--looking out at the edge of the earth:
red at the horizon line,
blending to orange and yellow,
followed by a thin white line,
then light blue,
gradually turning to dark blue
and various gradually darker shades of grey
then black and a million stars above.
It's breathtaking.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. ALLEN. I ask unanimous consent that the distinguished senior Senator from Virginia and I be recognized for a time not to exceed 20 minutes to engage in a colloquy, and that it be charged against the time of the majority.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ALLEN. Madam President, I join with my colleague, Senator Warner, on this sad day, not just for America but for the world. It is a day on which we commemorate and honor the lives of the seven courageous astronauts. We are joined together in honoring the lives of these courageous individuals who dedicated their lives and decided to use their talents to reach high; to reach for high ideals, and who assumed the risks of these dangers in a very noble effort to improve our quality of life here on Earth.
This is a day of admiration. It is a day of inspiration for us and for the NASA people who care so much about this tragedy, the loss of these heroes. We all watched in horror as they were trying to come back into our atmosphere. The tragic disaster was more than just a loss for us in the United States, but it was a loss for the entire world community--whose diversity, ingenuity, and skill are reflected in the members of this historic crew.
Our hearts ache for the grieving but amazingly brave families of these heroes who perished in this catastrophic failure. As we go through the list of those on the shuttle we see Rick Husband, Commander; Pilot William McCool; Michael Anderson; CDR Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark; Mission Specialist Ilan Ramon of Israel; and David M. Brown, Mission Specialist 1 and Navy captain from Arlington, VA, a Virginia resident, born and raised in Virginia, he went to college at the College of William and Mary after attending Yorktown High School, and was graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all these families. But for my colleagues to get to know the character of these families, where they came from, it is important that I share with you my conversation with David's brother Doug. David's brother was the only family member who was waiting for him when he was to land in Florida.
It is a family of achievers. His father--it would have been very difficult for him to get down there because his father is in a wheelchair. His father contracted polio at the age of 5. It never deterred him. He became a judge. He campaigned, somehow, door to door, and then was appointed as a circuit court judge, where he served honorably and expertly for 20 years, watching a great deal of growth and transformation in Northern Virginia.
David's brother Doug, with whom I spoke today, is a hero and character in his own sense. He went to West Virginia University. I said: Why did you leave Virginia to go to West Virginia? And he said they have a great target shooting program there. He himself was a two-time All-American. It is a family of achievers.
Doug talked about family, not just his family but the NASA family; about this crew and how this flight was delayed time after time; one time because they were sending up another mission to fix the Hubble. Another time there was a delay because of repair of the fuel lines. So the family became closer. By the time they were actually able to launch and go off on their mission, they had become very close.
We talked about various things. I asked him a question about what could we do to help? Is there anything we can do to comfort you or to comfort your family? What he said is that NASA and the Navy Casualty Assistance Crews were great. Everything possible was being done for them. He talked about how NASA had such noble goals, trying to expand the knowledge of mankind, and said they are the best of mankind.
Doug said his brother David understood that everyone was taking risks. We talked about how Navy pilots and test pilots over the years have lost their lives, some trying to land on a pitching aircraft carrier. He said those folks are heroes as well, and they don't get the attention these individuals received.
I asked Doug how his recent conversations with David. Doug said that he recently asked David: Well, what if you don't get back? What should I say?
He said his brother told him the program must go on. Not in a careless way, but it needs to move forward. He believed if there was any error and he couldn't get back, it most likely would be a human error, but that he would not hold that against whomever it was involved in that error because he knew everyone was trying to do the best job they could.
He talked about NASA, about how they cared about, for example, specifically, one of the culprits or suspected culprits in this tragedy, which was that piece of foam that hit the left wing.
His brother--and he communicated with him by e-mail when he was up in space--had actually taken photographs of that wing because they were concerned about it.
I said: Did those photographs get back?
He said: No, they didn't send those photographs back. But that will be part of the investigation, at least his oral description of the situation.
I said: As we are trying to figure this out and trying to learn from it, what would he say?
He said: Gosh, you have to understand, George--he said George, not Senator Allen. We are on a friendly basis. He said: You have to understand my brother David was a football player. He was an offensive lineman at Yorktown High School. He said: In these sort of things, they use a football analogy. You don't get stopped dead in your tracks. When you get tackled, you get up and you keep trying to score.
And Doug, his brother, said they used to make fun of David, that no one ever paid any attention to an offensive lineman. They were trying to rub it in. No one knew of his football prowess.
David retorted that no one else had Katie Couric cheering for him like she did at Yorktown High School.
Today, David, everyone is cheering for you. We are aching for your wonderful family and your friends. We know the noble mission that you have been on, and others will be on in the future, will continue as you desired.
We will reconstruct the facts. We are determined to get up. We are determined to learn. We will not quit. We will keep fighting. In fact, we will keep improving, we will keep innovating, and we will keep advancing.
David Brown was a hero, and these surviving families are heroic individuals as well. As we go forward, we will learn. But we also will pray to God that we continue to be blessed, in this country and the world, with people of such courage and especially people of such great character.
I would like to yield to the distinguished senior Senator from Virginia, Mr. Warner.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.
Mr. WARNER. Madam President, may I say to my good friend, the junior Senator, that he delivered his remarks with great empathy and feeling. I wish to congratulate him. I have come to know him as a man who has intense feelings for people; and as a former Governor the many times he had to respond to catastrophes and loss of life in our State, he certainly has learned how to speak for the families and the survivors, and to speak with admiration about those who made the sacrifice. I thank the Senator for the privilege of serving with him.
Mr. ALLEN. I thank the Senator.
Mr. WARNER. Madam President, it is interesting; as the two of us approached the floor, a reporter paused in a very courteous way to ask me some questions. He is doing a study on the demographics of the Senate, and in particular on the number of Senators who have had an opportunity to serve in uniform. I expressed an opinion that I have expressed many times to a similar request. I find that, while it has its advantages, there is certainly no disadvantage to those who have not had the opportunity to serve in uniform. I think we all learn very quickly how to address the responsibilities we have with respect to the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States.
But in the few steps that I took walking to the Chamber, I say to my colleague, I did reflect momentarily on two brief periods that I was privileged to serve in uniform at the very end of World War II when I did not see combat as did the spouse of the distinguished Presiding Officer of the Senate, our former colleague, Senator Dole, in no way have I ever put myself in the category of Senators Dole, INOUYE, STEVENS, HOLLINGS, and many others since then who served in Vietnam with such great distinction on the battlefield. But I did come to know many of my colleagues. Then I served briefly in the Korean war as a ground communications officer in the first wing. But I got to know aviators very well in that capacity. I recall that one of our tentmates did not return, and also our commanding officer lost his life. I was part of the detail that went out to retrieve him from a mountainside.
I empathize, as do the other men and women of the Armed Forces, for the loss of those astronauts who achieved their status through training in the U.S. military. What a privilege it is for all of us who had the opportunity to serve, to serve with others, and to share in their everyday happenings and glory--and sometimes in the status of their death--that we do here, brothers and sisters in the Senate today.
A number of our colleagues had the opportunity to go down to the services. I had to remain here. But I join with my colleagues in our reverent and humble way of expressing our deepest sympathies to the families, to the survivors, to the fellow enlisted military officers who served with these individuals throughout their careers, and to the Nation. The whole Nation is grieving for their deaths.
It is a marvelous thing to see Americans come together from all walks of life and to join in prayers and in other ways--so often in quiet ways--to express our feelings over this tragic loss to our Nation, and indeed to the world, because the world is largely dependent on those nations that have trained those going into space with particular missions. We lost the very brave and extraordinary military officer from our strong ally, Israel.
While our Nation grieves for the deaths of the seven pioneers in space, for their friends and families, and for the States those brave souls called home, we join in mourning with all States in the Union. And yet we celebrate in a way their entire lives. We in Virginia are united in our solemn remembrance of one of those astronauts, CPT David Brown, whose parents, Dorothy and Paul, live in Washington, VA. My distinguished colleague spoke of his wonderful conversation with his brother today.
In the United States of America, we are a nation of pioneers--blazing trails from the 16th and 17th centuries to build ourselves a new nation, venturing west in the 18th and 19th centuries to fulfill our manifest destiny; and today in the 20th and 21st centuries leaving the outer bounds of our own atmosphere to learn more about this planet and others, and to share that knowledge with the world.
Shuttle launches and landings have become routine over the last several decades, yielding a false sense of security. We now recognize how false it is--for we are shaken to our very core.
Brilliant were the remarks delivered today by our President--and those who gathered with him at the memorial service. President Bush is well known to my colleague as a fellow Governor. They served together. How often the Senator from Virginia told me about the moments they shared when both of them were Governors. But he--not unlike my dear friend, the Senator from Virginia--has a remarkable way to step into a period of mourning and bring strength to the families who remain, and to the Nation. I certainly commend our President.
Over 100 times our brave astronauts have challenged the laws of gravity--I love that phrase; I wrote it myself--the laws of gravity propelling themselves, their shuttles, and their payloads hundreds of miles from the Earth's surface. Their work has yielded a great deal of scientific advancement--especially medical advances--credited with enhancing the quality of life not only of ourselves but, indeed, the world.
Space research, technology, and exploration are major contributors to enhancing our national security, to improving our standard of living, and broadening our scientific knowledge--and to carry on the pioneering traditions of our Nation. NASA has been the driving force for these many accomplishments.
May I say the current Administrator of NASA is a member of our Senate family. In many ways, he worked with this institution. He went on to become Secretary of the Navy, an office that I was once privileged to hold. Our thoughts and prayers are with him. I think thus far he has shown strong leadership in addressing this tragedy, proceeding immediately to try to unearth the facts and to procure the knowledge from all sources, wherever they may be, to try to find the answers for this tragedy.
We are a nation of risk-takers. But with exploration comes inherent risks. We have continually tempted fate through superior science and with the most talented men and women in their fields--astronauts who are the best and the brightest--those who fulfill their dreams and, I think more importantly, who have instilled in generations of young people their commitments and their dreams to perhaps become astronauts or dreams to perhaps one day wear the uniforms of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and the Air Force.
Last night I was privileged to attend a public meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the four members of the chiefs of the services and/or their designated persons, who spoke brilliantly. In the cross questions, they addressed their pride in those men in uniform who achieved the status of astronaut--most particularly, at least two of them knew personally two of those who were lost on this mission.
I was so proud of the way they spoke and talked with resolve as to how we press on in space, and how generations upon generations will be coming behind to take their places, not unlike the men and women of the Armed Forces who throughout the world today are standing watch over our freedom, most particularly in the stressful situations of the Korean Peninsula and, indeed, the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. How proud we are of the men and women of the Armed Forces.
The Columbia crew trained for their mission for years and in an instant our Nation has lost seven brave brothers and sisters;
Commander Rick Douglas Husband, U.S. Air Force Colonel, father of one daughter and one son; hometown, Amarillo, TX;
Pilot William C. McCool, U.S. Navy Commander, father of three sons; hometown, San Diego, CA:
Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, hometown Karnau, India;
Michael P. Anderson, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, father of two daughters; hometown, Spokane, WA;
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, commander, U.S. Navy, mother of one son; hometown, Racine, WI;
Ilan Ramon, colonel, Isreli Air Force;
And David M. Brown, captain, U.S. Navy; hometown, Washington, VA.
I am proud to stand here today on behalf of all Virginians to honor his memory and celebrate his life.
How proud Virginia, his parents, his friends, and his family are of this distinguished man: CPT David Brown. In his last words from space, CPT Brown wrote an e-mail to his parents in Virginia. My colleague referred to an e-mail he wrote to his brother. This is an e-mail he wrote to his parents:
If I'd been born in space, I would desire to visit the beautiful Earth more than I ever yearned to visit space. It's a wonderful planet.
Quiet, confident, heroic, adventuresome, dedicated to the welfare of others, and always seeing the best in our world: CPT Brown.
My colleague enumerated the details of his family and his education, but I do wish to recount one story. His parents were not surprised by his choice. Paul and Dorothy Brown watched their son grow up in the Westover section of Arlington with a clear sense of adventure. He flew with a friend in a small plane at age 7. And while at William and Mary, he worked two jobs just to gain the dollars for his flying lessons.
In a speech to students last September, CPT Brown predicted that at some point a shuttle flight would end with the loss of crew and aircraft. But he encouraged the young people to have ``a big vision, accept the risks and be persistent in pursuit of [your] goals.''
Last Christmas, CPT Brown had a conversation with his brother Doug, who asked what would happen if something went wrong in space. He simply said: ``Well, this program will go on.'' And the remainder of that conversation my dear colleague put in the RECORD.
We are a nation of patriots. Not only must we remember these brave men and women of the Columbia, but all men, all women in uniform, who protect this great Nation. And I suppose since 9/11 each of you in this Chamber, like I, stop quietly when you see the uniform of a fireman, a policeman, or a medical worker, or those who form the vast infrastructure in this country and take risks day and night so we can enjoy the highest quality of life of any nation in this world.
I say to our Armed Forces on deployment around the world, who have been dispatched for the cause of protecting freedom, and to our police and firefighters, you are in our thoughts and in our prayers every day. Ours is a grateful Nation for the risks you and your families--and I underline families--take.
Today we must mourn our loss: the crew of the Columbia. Tomorrow we will continue their work. I emphasize that. Our President said that. Tomorrow we will continue their work, their search for knowledge, and their exploration of new frontiers.
We will remember them with reverence, just as we remember the settlers at Jamestown in 1607, and the expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1803. We will remember them, just as we remember our lost soldiers, sailors, and airmen, who have given their lives--generations of lives--to protect our freedoms. And we will remember them, just as we will remember the others who have fallen in space, who dared to dance among the stars. We remember them.
I yield the floor.
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ALEXANDER). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, before the minority assistant leader arrives and I do final closing business, I want to commend the senior Senator from Virginia, my mentor, my ally, my good friend, for his outstanding statements, and for his experiences throughout his life--in many wars, in many tragedies--and through it all with his experience, as he always has the right things to say. He crafts those words himself. And he is proud of them.
He is an artist. He is an artist not only on canvas but also an artist with the gift of language, of sentiments, and of love and care for his fellow human beings. And he has been a hero himself, in many wars--in time of war and in time of peace--a leader in the civilian sector, and one who I, every single day, in every single moment that I am with him, learn something good and beneficial to improve myself.
So I thank my colleague, my dear friend, Senator Warner, for those wonderful remarks that I think mean a great deal to the family of Captain Brown and to all the families, but also to the spirit of innovation, of that gung-ho spirit as far as the military is concerned, but also understanding the historic nature from the very beginnings of the cradle of liberty in Jamestown, on through the Lewis and Clark expeditions, and others throughout mankind.
He is really a wonderful Virginia gentleman. Some call him ``The Squire.'' I call him a living hero. I thank the Senator for his comments.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague. I am deeply moved. A hero I am not, my dear fellow. I served twice in active duty for brief periods, and I benefited greatly in that service.
I try today, as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, to return to the men and women of the Armed Forces more than what I received by way of training and other benefits from serving in the military. My tours of active duty are inconsequential compared to the glorious careers of the persons who we honor today and, indeed, all others really that I have served with and see on the far-flung battlefields of the world as I travel through their posts, and will do soon again, to do what I can to benefit their lives, their welfare, their safety, and that of their families.
Mr. WARNER. But I think, my dear friend, we should note that we have present in the Chamber today the visiting Chaplain who comes from the State of Virginia. I think it is a matter of consequence that he is here today in the time that you and I speak. And he, too, expresses, as he did in the opening prayer, what is in his heart today, as he is in this Chamber, participating and listening to our speeches. So we are fortunate. We thank the guest Chaplain.
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I share my colleague's comments in relation to the guest Chaplain, Dr. William Carl. It is a pleasure for us all he is here.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I often speak about the many inspirational or impressive feats accomplished by South Dakotans. I am particularly pleased by the thousands of men and women from South Dakota who serve our Nation in one of the Armed Forces. But today, I want to call attention to someone who has risen above and beyond most others. I'm speaking of CDR Charles J. ``Jerry'' Logan of the U.S. Navy.
Commander Logan was born in De Smet, SD. He also lived in Leola and Belle Fourche, SD. The commander is a graduate of Belle Fourche High School and the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City. He is the only son of Charles and Margaret Logan's eight children. Most of the Logan family continues to reside in South Dakota. The commander is married to Teresa Logan, the daughter of Norman, who also served in the Navy, and Gay Jacobs.
Last November Commander Logan was bestowed the special honor of taking command of the USS Bremerton. This is his first command post. The Bremerton is one of several nuclear attack submarines assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Command of a nuclear submarine is obviously and enormous responsibility. Only a select few are ever charged with such a task.
Commander Logan took command of the Bremerton at a Change of Command ceremony in San Diego. Over 100 friends and relatives attended, and I am pleased to say many came from South Dakota--including Commander Logan's parents, all seven of his sisters, and many other relatives. I understand the presiding officer at the ceremony, Captain McAneny, was quite moved by the large contingent from South Dakota who traveled to show their support for Commander Logan.
I can certainly understand why the entire Logan and Jacobs families are proud of Commander Logan. I, too am proud of Jerry Logan, as I am proud of all those from South Dakota and throughout the Nation who are serving their country in the Armed Forces.
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I join the Nation in grieving the tragic loss of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, which went down during its return to Earth after 16 days in space.
My heart especially goes out to the families of the seven astronauts on board the Columbia; Rick Husband, the mission commander, William McCool, the shuttle pilot, and the five crew-members, David Brown, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, and Ilan Ramon.
Ever since President Kennedy announced, on May 25, 1961, that the United States land an American safely on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, our Nation has been committed to reaching for the stars.
President Kennedy said, ``We choose to go to the moon ..... not because [it is] easy, but because [it is] hard.''
Thus begun America's space program, a program which has compelled some our Nation's brightest and bravest souls to risk their lives in the name of progress; to travel into the frontiers of space in order to advance human life here on Earth.
The space program has seen its share of tragedy. In the pre-space travel days of 1950s, daredevil pilots, such as form Senator John Glenn, risked it all to help us develop jet engine and rocket propulsion technologies, and to learn about the outer-reachers of our stratosphere. Dozens died in the process. They sacrificed their lives to make the space program possible.
Many of us are old enough to remember January 27, 1967, the day Apollo 1 exploded during a launch-pad test, killing all three astronauts on board, Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. I personally remember the numbness I felt when hearing the news, and later watching the tragedy replayed on television.
But the space program went forward; 18 months later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took man's first steps on the Moon.
All of a sudden, our boundaries seemed limitless.
In 1982, the space shuttle program became operational, and trips to space began seeming commonplace.
But once again, on January 28, 1986, our Nation mourned the loss of shuttle astronauts Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, who were lost the Challenger shuttle exploded during take-off.
President Reagan's words spoke for an entire Nation when he said: ``We've grown used to the idea space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We are still pioneers.''
With those words, the space shuttle program went forward, and there have been dozens of shuttle launches over the past 15 years, reaping untold rewards for humanity in terms of increasing our understanding of physics, biology, and of the physical universe in which we live.
Now we are in the shadow of another tragedy. Some are questioning whether or not manned space flights ought to continue. Some say risks to the lives of the astronauts outweigh the gains we can make in terms of scientific progress.
I say we listen to the families of those lost on Space Shuttle Columbia. They are united in their feelings that their loved ones died doing what they loved most, that these heroes understood the risks, but were undeterred because they also understood the potential for gain.
These families are united in their belief that the space program must go on.
I believe that if it does not, than the lives of these seven astronauts would have been lost in vain.
Tragedies like these are a direct result of America's restless desire for progress, to go further, fly faster, learn more, and advance.
Robert Kennedy once said: ``It is from acts of courage that human history is shaped.''
These seven brave astronauts knew the risks. They were not deterred. They were emboldened. They gave their lives that humanity could take yet another leap forward into the vast unknown of future knowledge.
They are, and always will be, national heroes.
Reading through articles from Sunday's New York Times, I could not help but be struck by the diversity of the crew. Once upon a time, all NASA astronauts were white men from the military. But over the past few decades, NASA has been recruiting astronauts based on their skills, their excellence, and of course, their courage and commitment. That has meant a more diverse astronaut pool.
The crew of the Columbia were a wonderful example of this diversity, men and women, black and white, immigrant and native-born, as well as a crew-member from Israel, Ilan Ramon.
The crew of the Columbia offer us a reminder that there are not boundaries in space, and that humans are one race.
Together, we will overcome this tragedy. And together, we will continue to look toward the stars and beyond.
I ask unanimous consent to print in the RECORD seven articles from Sunday's New York Times, each of which offers insights into the lives and personal accomplishments of each of the astronauts lost in Saturday's tragedy.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
[From the New York Times, Feb. 2, 2003]
Loss of the Shuttle: The Astronauts; the Columbia Space Shuttle's Crew of 6 Americans and 1 Israeli
(By Pam Belluck)
Seven astronauts, six Americans and an Israeli, died aboard the shuttle Columbia yesterday. Of the crew of five men and two women, four had never flown in space before.
COL. RICK D. HUSBAND--A LIFELONG DREAM OF BEING AN ASTRONAUT
It took Rick D. Husband four tries to convince NASA to let him become an astronaut. The 45-year-old Air Force colonel from Amarillo, Tex., had yearned to fly in outer space since he was a child. ``It's been pretty much a lifelong dream and just a thrill to be able to get to actually live it,'' Colonel Husband told The Associated Press just before the Jan. 16 launching of the space shuttle Columbia.
Finally, Colonel Husband, a former test pilot who learned to fly when he was 18 and had more than 3,800 hours of flight time in more than 40 types of aircraft, was chosen for the NASA space program in 1994.
But it would take five more years of training and preparation before he would ride his first rocket into space. During that 10-day mission in 1999, Colonel Husband was the pilot of the space shuttle Discovery in the first mission by a shuttle crew to dock with the international space station.
After that he became chief of safety for NASA's astronaut office, and despite having only one space flight under his belt Colonel Husband was chosen to be the commander of the Columbia mission.
His mother, Jane Husband, said he prepared intensely, capitalizing on every minute, even an unexpected six-month delay when repairs forced the shuttle to be grounded last July.
``At Christmas, he was still studying, and I said, `Oh, gosh,' '' Mrs. Husband told the Ledger of Lakeland, Fla., just after the launching of the shuttle. ``He said, `I have to make sure everything is in my head perfect.' They're all like that. They have to be mentally prepared.''
Greg Ojakangas, a NASA consultant and professor of physics at Drury University in Springfield, MO., because friendly with Colonel Husband during the 1994 NASA selection process, when Dr. Ojakangas was not picked to be an astronaut.
``He finally made it,'' Dr. Ojakangas said. ``It was a tale of perseverance.''
Dr. Ojakangas said Colonel Husband was a religious man devoted to his family, whose only regret about joining the space program was that it kept him so busy.
``When I asked him how he was liking it,'' Dr. Ojakangas said, ``I remember him talking about how he wished he has more time at home.''
Colonel Husband, had a wife, Evelyn; a daughter, Laura, 8; and a son, Matthew, 3. A baritone who sang in a barbershop quartet while in school, Colonel Husband still sang in church choirs. And he loved water skiing and biking.
Colonel Husband's mother and uncle watched the shuttle launching in Florida last month, feeling some of the astronaut's excitement as the spacecraft took off.
``It was almost as if the creator arranged it,'' his uncle, George Drank, told The Ledger. ``The flood lights were on the shuttle. Then the sun started coming over the horizon. As it ascended into heaven, the sun was behind it, and it made a big dark streak across the sky. I looked back at his mother and brother and tears were streaming.''
Evelyn Husband said: ``I wasn't nervous about what he was doing because he worked so long and hard for it. But when that started lifting off, Mama started crying. It's different when your son is on it.''
When asked before the flight about being selected mission commander while being relatively new to the space program, Colonel Husband seemed modest and poised.
``I think,'' he said, ``a lot of it has to do with being at the right placeat the right time, for starters.''
--[From the New York Times Feb. 2, 2003]
Loss of the Shuttle: The Astronauts; the Columbia Space Shuttle's Crew of 6 Americans and 1 Israeli
(By Jodi Wilgoren)
Seven astronauts, six Americans and an Israeli, died aboard the shuttle Columbia yesterday. Of the crew of five men and two women, four had never flown in space before.
DR. LAUREL SALTON CLARK--AFTER SEA AND SKY, MOVING ON TO SPACE
Laurel Salton Clark had conquered the sea, diving with the Navy Seals and conducting medical evacuations from submarines off Scotland. She had penetrated the air as a flight surgeon aboard the Marine Attack Squadron of the Year. Space was the logical next frontier.
``She was never one of these people to say, `O.K., I found what I want to do,' it was always `What the next challenge?' '' said Dr. Clark's younger brother, Daniel Salton. ``She was one of these people who just had goals, just saw the goal, the end result, and knew how much work it would take to get there and was willing to do it.''
Dr. Clark, 41, a Navy commander who was one of two women among the seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia, was always scuba diving or mountain biking, hiking or rock climbing or parachuting. She grew up in Racine, Wisc., the eldest of four children, married a fellow Navy officer, Jonathan Clark, who later joined her in working at NASA, and had an 8-year-old son, Iain.
In an e-mail message sent from the space shuttle a few days ago, Dr. Clark marveled at the view of Wind Point, a peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan a few miles from her childhood home, and wondered whether the photographs she had taken would turn out.
``Hello from above our magnificent planet earth,'' Dr. Clark wrote to a group of close friends and relatives. ``The perspective is truly awe-inspiring. Even the stars have a special brightness. I have seen my `friend' Orion several times.
An animal lover who was always the child to sleep with the family cat, Laurel Blair Salton graduated from Racine's William Horlick High School in 1979 and majored in zoology at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, intending to be a veterinarian. Instead, she attended the university's medical school, where she was part of a tight-knit group of six friends who saved up their vacation time and spent the last three weeks before graduation in 1987 sailing a 42-foot boat through the British Virgin Islands.
After nearly a decade in the Navy, with postings in Pensacola, Fla, Holy Loch, Scotland, and Yuma, Ariz, a friend suggested that Dr. Clark take the NASA test. Like many others, she was not accepted on the first round. She later became part of a class known as the Sardines, because it had more than 40 astronaut candidates, the most in history, Ms. Salton said.
At NASA, Dr. Clark was nicknamed ``Floral, ``because of the vibrant colors that she wore when not in uniform.
Mr. Salton said he never worried about the safety of the shuttle--until two weeks ago when he joined his mother, siblings and several of Dr. Clark's friends at the launching.
``I was just an emotional wreck when she was in space, when you actually see that rocket group,'' he recalled. ``Visions of the Challenger go through your head and you pray that its not going to happen. Once they're up in space, big sigh of relief, O.K. the dangerous part is over. I never ever considered that something could happen on the way down.''
While in space, Dr. Clark was part of several life-science experiments. In an interview from space published on Friday in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, she spoke of watching the sunsets.
``There's a flash--the whole payload bay turns this rosy pink,'' she said.
``It only lasts about 15 seconds and then it's gone. It's very ethereal and extremely beautiful.''
Always a lover of her Scottish heritage, Dr. Clark had chosen as her wake-up song aboard the shuttle a bagpipe version of ``Amazing Grace,'' similar to one played at her wedding.
It will also be played at her funeral.
--[From the New York Times, Feb. 2, 2003]
Loss of the Shuttle: The Astronauts; the Columbia Space Shuttle's Crew of 6 Americans and 1 Israeli
(By Warren E. Leary)
Seven astronauts, six Americans and an Israeli, died aboard the shuttle Columbia yesterday. Of the crew of five men and two women, four had never flown in space before.
COL. ILAN RAMON--PILOT EMBRACED ROLE AS A SYMBOL FOR JEWS
Col. Ilan Ramon was a soft-spoken combat pilot conscious of the importance of symbols and history, and the role he played in both. In the days and weeks leading to the Columbia's mission, and as the shuttle carried out its 16 days of science experiments, much of the attention focused on Colonel Ramon.
The son and grandson of Holocaust survivors, Colonel Ramon, 48, was the first citizen of his country to go into space. The accomplishment, he said in an interview in mid-January, was not his alone.
``Every time you are the first, it is meaningful,'' he said. ``I am told my flight is meaningful to a lot of Jewish people around the world. Being the first Israeli astronaut, I feel I am representing all Jews and all Israelis.''
On the shuttle, where he presided over an Israeli project to collect images of dust storms to gauge their impact on climate, Colonel Ramon carried a special keepsake.
It was a small Torah scroll used at the bar mitzvah of the project's principal investigator, Dr. Joachim Joseph, almost 60 years ago while he was in a Nazi concentration camp. The elderly rabbi performing the ceremony, who died soon afterward in the camp, gave the Torah to the boy and told him to tell people what had happened there.
Dr. Joseph said Colonel Ramon saw the Torah when visiting his home and was so moved by the story that he asked to take it into space as a tribute.
Before the launching, most of the attention paid to the mission centered on security and efforts to keep the shuttle and its crew safe from any terrorist attack. Officials at NASA acknowledged that the presence of an Israeli astronaut had only intensified the heightened security they had imposed since Sept. 11, 2001.
But Colonel Ramon and his crewmates said they were not unduly concerned about their safety, and they concentrated on keeping up their training for their much-delayed research mission, Colonel Ramon, who spent more than four years preparing for the flight, saw it repeatedly postponed by higher-priority missions and problems that periodically grounded the shuttle fleet.
``I have a lot of patience,'' he said with a smile before the launching, ``but now I'm ready to go.''
Ilan Ramon was born on June 20, 1954, in a Tel Aviv suburb and, after graduating from high school in 1972, attended the Israel Air force Flight School. He became a fighter pilot and logged more than 4,000 hours in various combat aircraft. He fought in the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and in the Lebanon conflict in 1982.
He received a bachelor of science degree in electronics and computer engineering from the University of Tel Aviv in 1987, and in 1994 was promoted to colonel and assigned to head the air force's weapons development and acquisition division.
Colonel Ramon was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1997 as a result of a science agreement two years earlier between President Bill Clinton and Shimon Peres, then the Israeli foreign minister. He and his wife, Rona, moved to Houston in 1998 so he could begin training at the Johnson Space Center. He is also survived by four children ages 6 to 14.
--[From the New York Times, Feb. 2, 2003]
Loss of the Shuttle: The Astronauts; the Columbia Space Shuttle's Crew of 6 Americans and 1 Israeli
(By Lydia Polgreen)
Seven astronauts, six Americans and an Israeli, died aboard the shuttle Columbia yesterday. Of the crew of five men and two women, four had never flown in space before.
DR. KALPANA CHAWLA--QUIET AND MODEST, BUT ALSO DETERMINED
Nearly everyone who walks into Don Seath's classroom has at least toyed with the thought of becoming an astronaut. Mr. Seath, who has taught aerodynamics at the University of Texas of Arlington since 1965, would be hard pressed to think of a student who on first meeting seemed less likely to go into space than Kalpana Chawla. It was not that she lacked brilliance. ``She was a very good student, quite excellent,'' Mr. Seath said in a telephone interview. ``She was in my aerodynamics class, and she performed exceedingly well. She was very bright.''
What she did not have was the brash attitude most aspiring astronauts displayed.
``She was quiet and modest,'' Mr. Seath said. ``When I heard she had been accepted into the program to become a astronaut I was thrilled but also surprised.'' She just did not seem to fit the type, he said.
But Dr. Chawla, 41, never lacked determination, those who knew her said. From her childhood in Karnal, a small-town about 80 miles north of New Delhi, she nursed a lifelong dream to go into space. She early on set her sights on an American education that would take her up into the air.
``I was interested in aerospace and flying, and the U.S. is really the best place in the world for flying,'' she told the University of Texas at Arlington magazine in 1998.
Dr. Chawla was a brilliant student, always in the top five of her class, those who knew her said. After getting an engineering degree from Punjab Engineering College in 1982, she moved to the United States, where she attended the University of Texas at Arlington, then got a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado. Along the way she became a citizen of the United States.
In 1994, NASA selected her and 19 other people from a group of 4,000 other applicants to its astronaut program. On Nov. 19, 1997, she became the first Indian-born woman in space. She was assigned to the shuttle Columbia as a mission specialist and prime robotic arm operator.
The flight was not without mishaps. As robotic arm operator she was unable to retrieve the 3,000 pound Spartan satellite, which spun away after the shuttle released it, and astronauts had to go out on a space walk three days later to retrieve it. The mistake shook her confidence, and she feared her space career was over. But her concern was misplaced.
``Some of the senior people, the very senior astronauts, shook my hand and said, `K.C., you did a great job. Don't let anyone tell you different,' ``Dr. Chawla told the University of Texas at Arlington Magazine. A NASA inquiry later determined that the shuttle crew had made a series of errors that caused the satellite to malfunction.
In New Delhi, relatives of Dr. Chawla gathered to hear news and mourn together.
``Whenever you are involved in such tasks, one should be prepared for such things,'' said Anjay Chawla, Dr. Chawla's brother, his voice choking as he spoke to reporters. ``If it could happen to others it could happen to you as well. This time it happened to us.''
R. S. Bhatia, head of the Washington office of the Indian Space Research Organization, India's answer to NASA, said Dr. Chawla had become a symbol of India's greatness, even though she was no longer a citizen.
``After her first flight, she became a national hero,'' Mr. Bhatia said. ``She is an American citizen, but she is ours too. This is the most terrible tragedy. We have lost a hero.''
--[From the New York Times, Feb. 2, 2003]
Loss of the Shuttle: The Astronauts; the Columbia Space Shuttle's Crew of 6 Americans and 1 Israeli
(By Jeffrey Gettleman)
Seven astronauts, six Americans and an Israeli, died aboard the shuttle Columbia yesterday. Of the crew of five men and two women, four had never flown in space before.
CAPT. DAVID M. BROWN--A CIRCUS PERFORMER AND A TOP AVIATOR
Trapeze artist. Stilt walker. Test pilot. David M. Brown had a special blend of the right stuff. And a bucket of humility to go along with it.
``He was one of those guys who filled all the squares to be where he was,'' said Bob Ryan, another pilot-doctor who knew Dr. Brown from a flight surgeons' organization. ``But he was quiet about it. You'd never hear Dave beating his own drum.''
Dr. Brown, 46, grew up in Arlington, Va. He was a star gymnast on the parallel bars at Yorktown High School and went on to earn a letter at William and Mary. He also joined the circus, performing as an acrobat, unicyclist and stilt walker, all the while earning top marks in biology.
Dr. Brown, a 46-year-old doctor who died about the space shuttle Columbia yesterday, began his gravity defying days in Arlington, VA., where he starred on the Yorktown High School gymnastics team. He went on to join the circus while studying biology at the College of William and Mary. He was an acrobat, unicyclist and stilt walker.
``I always let him dream,'' said his mother, Dot.
He attended Eastern Virginia Medical School and signed up with the Navy afterwards.
He was sent to a military hospital in Alaska, and then served on an aircraft carrier. In 1988, Dr. Brown was selected for pilot training, a rarity for Navy doctors. He graduated No. 1 in his naval aviation class.
He flew F-18 Hornet jet fighters, A-6E Intruder aircraft and the high performance T-38 Talon, known as the white rocket. He joined the Navy test pilot school in 1995 and was chosen for the astronaut program the next year. It was his third try. His credentials in biology and medicine helped land him a spot on the Columbia mission, which focused on scientific research.
Dr. Brown was hooked on space, friends said. He had a telescope in his living room, aimed at the moon. Some nights, he would jump in his single-engine plane and fly the 50 miles from Houston, where he lived, to Galveston to attend astronomy club meetings.
``As we were flying through the night, Dave would point out all the stars and nebula,'' said Dwight Holland, an Air Force pilot and friend. ``He loved it.''
Solidly built with wholesome looks, Dr. Brown had never been married. His closest companion was his 14-year-old dog, Duggins, who died two days before the shuttle lifted off.
His parents live on a mountaintop in rural Virginia. Yesterday, they shared the last e-mail they received from him.
``My most moving moment was reading a letter that Ilan Ramon brought from a Holocaust survivor whose seven-year-old daughter died,'' Dr. Brown wrote. ``I was stunned such a beautiful planet could harbor such bad things.''
--[From the New York Times, Feb. 2, 2003]
Loss of the Shuttle: The Astronauts; the Columbia Space Shuttle's Crew of 6 Americans and 1 Israeli
(By Timothy Egan)
Seven astronauts, six Americans and an Israeli, died aboard the shuttle Columbia yesterday. Of the crew of five men and two women, four had never flown in space before.
LT. COL. MICHAEL P. ANDERSON--A SOURCE OF HOPE FOR CHILDREN
Whenever Happy Watkins wanted to inspire black children in Spokane, an overwhelmingly white city in eastern Washington, he would reach into his wallet and pull out an autographed picture of Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson of the Air Force, the black astronaut who grew up in their town and died on the space shuttle Columbia today. ``These kids, some of them have no hope, and their eyes would light up when they saw this picture,'' said Mr. Watkins, who taught young Michael Anderson in the Sunday school at Morning Star Baptist Church in Spokane.
``This picture said it all--he's black, he's an astronaut--it was a huge motivator,'' Mr. Watkins said in an interview.
Born on Christmas Day 1959 in Plattsburgh, N.Y., the son of an Air Force serviceman, Colonel Anderson dreamed of the cosmos, and space flight, from the time he was a boy and got his first toy airplane at age 3.
He was a fan of Star Trek, and early on, he memorized the names of most of the American astronauts. He watched the Moon landing when he was a 9-year-old, and the excitement never left him, he said later.
He never doubted he would be an astronaut. ``I can't rememb