Spring Break
Columbia remembered
Shuttle workers, searchers observe first anniversary
By: Marcia Dunn
Issue date: 2/2/04 Section: News
Tributes also were held in many of the East Texas towns where the wreckage fell. The husbands of the two women who died aboard Columbia attended a memorial in Hemphill, in a packed Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. The memorial ended more than an hour later with a 21-gun salute.
Jean-Pierre Harrison said he wanted to thank the people who recovered the remains of his wife, Kalpana Chawla. ''You are among the best America has to offer,'' he said.
Dr. Jon Clark, a NASA neurologist who was married to astronaut Laurel Clark, said going to East Texas was ''like coming home.''
''This is where the crew came home and this is where I wanted to be,'' Clark told the grieving crowd.
In Houston, where the Columbia astronauts lived and Mission Control is located, the biggest salute of all was saved for last - the Super Bowl. The
Columbia astronauts' families were invited to the football game, along with NASA's top officials.
The NFL, which had scheduled the Super Bowl in Houston long before the Columbia disaster, paid an upbeat pregame tribute to the astronauts.
Aerosmith and Josh Groban offered musical tributes, and the seven astronauts scheduled to fly the next mission as early as September aboard shuttle Atlantis accompanied the color guard onto the field.
Eileen Collins, commander of the next shuttle mission, said she thought about the Columbia crew the whole time. ''I think they were with us today, and I think they're glad NASA didn't say no to the high-profile salute," she said.
Jean-Pierre Harrison said he wanted to thank the people who recovered the remains of his wife, Kalpana Chawla. ''You are among the best America has to offer,'' he said.
Dr. Jon Clark, a NASA neurologist who was married to astronaut Laurel Clark, said going to East Texas was ''like coming home.''
''This is where the crew came home and this is where I wanted to be,'' Clark told the grieving crowd.
In Houston, where the Columbia astronauts lived and Mission Control is located, the biggest salute of all was saved for last - the Super Bowl. The
Columbia astronauts' families were invited to the football game, along with NASA's top officials.
The NFL, which had scheduled the Super Bowl in Houston long before the Columbia disaster, paid an upbeat pregame tribute to the astronauts.
Aerosmith and Josh Groban offered musical tributes, and the seven astronauts scheduled to fly the next mission as early as September aboard shuttle Atlantis accompanied the color guard onto the field.
Eileen Collins, commander of the next shuttle mission, said she thought about the Columbia crew the whole time. ''I think they were with us today, and I think they're glad NASA didn't say no to the high-profile salute," she said.
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