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Sunday Tribune-ReviewVol. 114 No. 364 ©Tribune-Review Publishing Co. 2003
Feb. 2, 2003
12 Sections, 182 Pages 5 Price: $1.50 Home Delivery: $1.25 Internet address: triblive.com
AP Photo/Tyler Morning Telegraph, Dr. Scott Lieberman
Columbia lost
7 space shuttle astronauts perish on re-entry
Panel
The crew of the
By Marcia Dunn and Pam Easton space shuttle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Columbia (left),
from left, front row:
High over Texas and just short of home, Rick Husband,
space shuttle Columbia fell to pieces Sat- Kalpana Chawla
urday, raining debris over hundreds of
miles of countryside. Seven astronauts
perished — a gutwrenching loss for a
country and world already staggered by
tragedy.
and William
McCool; back row:
David Brown, Laurel
Clark, Michael
Anderson and
named
to probe
The catastrophe occurred 39 miles Israeli astronaut
above the Earth, in the last 16 minutes of Ilan Ramon, lost
the 16-day mission as the spaceship re- communication
entered the atmosphere and glided in for with NASA as their
a landing in Florida. In its horror and in ship soared over
its backdrop of a crystal blue sky, the day Texas, several min-
echoed one almost exactly 17 years before,
when the Challenger exploded.
“The Columbia is lost,” said President
Bush, after he telephoned the families of
the astronauts to console them.
utes before its
expected landing
on Saturday. The
shuttle broke apart
200,000 feet in the
air (above), which
disaster
“The same creator who names the stars WASHINGTON (AP) — An independent
was photographed board is being appointed to investigate the
also knows the names of the seven souls by amateur Dr.
we mourn today,” Bush said, his eyes glis- space shuttle Columbia disaster while
Scott Lieberman in NASA and a House committee conduct
tening. “The crew of the shuttle Columbia his back yard in
did not return safely to Earth, but we can their own separate inquiries, government
Tyler, Texas. officials said Saturday.
pray they are safely home.”
The search for the cause began imme- Experts from the Air Force and Navy —
diately. One focus: possible damage to which had five of the seven crew members
❒ More cover- — will join officials from the Transporta-
Columbia’s protective thermal tiles on age on Pages
the left wing from a flying piece of debris tion Department and other federal agencies
A5, A8 and A12. on the independent review panel, NASA
during liftoff on Jan. 16.
Administrator Sean O’Keefe said.
The loss of seven explorers of space’s Associated Press The space agency also will conduct its
dark reaches — shuttle commander Rick own investigation into the disaster, O’Keefe
Husband, Michael Anderson, David
Diverse crew represented the planet
said at a news conference in Cape Canaver-
Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, al, Fla. House Science Committee Chair-
William McCool and Ilan Ramon — man Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., said his
brought a new round of grief to a nation panel would investigate, as well.
still in mourning after the terrorist “We’re going to get together and fix this
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. problem. We’re going to launch shuttles
India, well-wishers calculated the time that Columbia.
And again, Americans were forced to By Anne Hull the Columbia would pass over the country The diversity of the crew — three white again,” NASA shuttle project manager Ron
confront the risks of space, along with the THE WASHINGTON POST so they could wave to Kalpana Chawla, the American men, a white American woman, a Dittemore said at a Houston news confer-
glories. 41-year-old astronaut on board. black American man, an Israeli national ence.
“The reality of what these people do has More than any other NASA space mis- In Israel, school children papered their and an Indian immigrant — was what He added there will “certainly be a hold
often escaped me,” said Charlie Dillon, 52, sion, the crew of the Columbia represented bulletin boards with the face of Ilan Ramon, struck many Americans about yesterday’s on future flights until we get ourselves
of Denver. “But they are frontiersman, the planet it soared above. The seven astro- the first Israeli to launch into space. tragedy. established and find the root cause of the
they’re out there making my life better nauts who perished Saturday came from The astronauts were a combination of disaster.”
And at a church in Amarillo, Texas, Sun-
and creating endless possibilities for my America, India and Israel. steely test pilots and modern-day engineer- NASA established a command post at
day school classes drew spaceships with
children.” During the 16-day mission, each nation ing phenoms. Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
prayers underneath for native son Rick
PLEASE SEE SHUTTLE/A17 had cheered on its homegrown heroes. In Husband, the 45-year-old commander of the PLEASE SEE DIVERSE/A14 PLEASE SEE PANEL/A12
INSIDE Region reacts to national tragedy
INDEX
Almanac/C15 Obituaries/A16-17
You could By Richard Robbins
war with Iraq. “They are heroes,” said Mark Cottrell, of
“What is urgent is that we retire to the room Greensburg, of the six Americans and one Israeli
Annie’s Mailbox/B7 Opinion/G1-6 win $50! TRIBUNE-REVIEW with our colleagues to lead them in prayer,” who died aboard Columbia.
Business/H1-8 Real Estate/F1-10 Tell us what Pelosi added. Cottrell and his wife, Julie, were taking a
From a mountaintop gathering of U.S. law- Like the nation as a whole, the lawmakers
Classified/C1-24 Sports/D1-12 you think. Your break from ice skating at the Kirk Nevin Recre-
makers to an afternoon skate in Greensburg, the were left to grope for the facts as the tragedy
opinion matters ation Center in Greensburg. A large television
Dateline D.C./G5 Style/B6-8 Columbia space shuttle tragedy resonated across began to unfold shortly after 9 a.m. yesterday.
to us. Give us set tuned to coverage of the disaster blared high
Entertain/E8-10 Travel/E1-4 western Pennsylvania Saturday. The cold, gray Information was relayed to the leadership group over their heads.
your 2 cents and we day matched the mood of the people reacting to
Food/E5-7 Vignettes/G7 might give you $50. See Page by aides speaking to an Associated Press reporter Moments after television began showing video
the deaths of the seven shuttle astronauts in the who was present for a planned news conference.
Horoscope/C15 Weather/A20 B2. of the shuttle cracking up in flight it became
fiery explosion over Texas. Pelosi, elected Democratic leader after the
Lottery/A20 Whispers/G6 apparent to the Cottrells that the tragedy was
“We thought that matters we were dealing party’s poor showing in the November elections, accidental, not the result of terrorism or sabo-
PLANS FOR PROTEST with were of the greatest seriousness. But it isn’t was preceded by Rep. Bob Menendez of New Jer- tage, Julie Cottrell said. “It looked,” she said,
Upset with the decision not to of the greatest urgency for us to discuss them sey, the caucus chairman, who told newsmen, “like (the shuttle began to break up in flight) far
prosecute state police officers right now,” said U.S. House Democratic Leader “We are deeply distressed and moved by the … away” from the Earth’s surface.
involved in the Dec. 24 shooting of 12- Nancy Pelosi, appearing before newsmen at tragic news of the Columbia space shuttle.” A top NASA administrator appearing on tele-
year-old Michael Ellerbe, a Pitts- Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farm- Shortly afterward, the conference was sus-
vision reiterated that the crash was not caused
burgh-based group held a meeting ington, Fayette County, where Democratic pended, and lawmakers headed home or back to
by anything launched from the ground.
Saturday to plan a Feb. 15 march in House members had gathered for a weekend dis- Washington. A Saturday morning appearance by
6 47397 22222 8 Uniontown to protest. Page A18. cussion of a variety of topics, including possible Gov. Ed Rendell was canceled. PLEASE SEE LAWMAKERS/A13