Columbia astronauts remembered
Houston (PTI): Rich tributes were paid to India-born Kalpana Chawla and six other astronauts of the shuttle Columbia at an emotional ceremony in the US state of Florida, five years after they perished in the mid-air disintegration of the space ship just 16 minutes before landing.
Family members and friends of the seven astronauts yesterday participated in a memorial at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
They gathered at the Space Mirror Memorial, a stone structure created in the memory of all the astronauts who died in the line of duty, to pay their tributes during the hour-long ceremony, which was also attended by the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair.
"I still grieve the loss of my precious husband," Evelyn Husband-Thompson, the widow of Columbia commander Rick Husband was quoted as telling the gathering by 'Houston Chronicle'.
In a message, President George W Bush said: "Space exploration is a dream deeply rooted in humanity, and the seven brave astronauts of Columbia sacrificed their lives so the rest of mankind could realise that dream."
"They assumed great risk so they could understand what lies beyond the heavens. We are grateful for their service and they will be always be cherished," he said.
Apart from Kalpana Chawla and Rick Husband, Columbia's crew who died in the February 1, 2003 break-up of the shuttle were Willie McCool, Mike Anderson, Dave Brown, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon of Israel.
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Columbia's final ascent
NASA has held a memorial ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster. All seven astronauts were killed when their spacecraft broke up on re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing time at Florida. ''Columbia'' had been damaged by a chunk of loose foam during takeoff 16 days earlier.

NASA officials, astronauts, schoolchildren and family members attended the ceremony, which was held just miles from ''Columbia'''s intended landing site. Approximately 200 people attended the event, held at the Kennedy Space Center's Space Mirror Memorial to all 24 astronauts killed in space disasters. Each was presented with a rose, which was placed in front of a granite memorial bearing the names of the 24.

Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of commander Rick, who has remarried just three weeks ago, said "This morning, I couldn't stop thinking about Rick and Willie and Kalpana and Dave and Mike and Laurel and Ilan. All of our families went through so much that day. We so miss them, and we will never forget them."

44 teenagers from Israel were amongst those present, there in respect to astronaut Ilan Ramon. Some came from the same school Ramon had attended. 15-year-old Roman Rashchupkin said "He's Israeli, so it's important. He learned in our school."

G. Madhavan Nair represented India at the memorial, remembering Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawla. Nair is chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Former shuttle commander Bill Readdy commented that, despite a large number of memorials, including one on Mars, "... much more importantly than any physical monument, they're memorialized right here in our hearts," Going on to name them individually, then saying "We'll always miss your easy laughter and your smiling faces. God willing, five years from now, they'll have even more to be proud of us about as we take even longer strides ... back to the moon and onward toward Mars. May God bless the crew of Columbia."

NASA boss Michael Griffin was amongst several people who commented on the dangerous nature of spaceflight. He proceeded to read a letter from United States President George W. Bush praising the astronauts, which was then presented to Husband-Thompson. "Space exploration is a dream deeply rooted in humanity, and the seven brave astronauts of Columbia sacrificed their lives so the rest of mankind could realize that dream," said Bush's letter. "They assumed great risk so they could understand what lies beyond the heavens. We are grateful for their service and they will be always be cherished."

Griffin also noted the importance of learning from mistakes, adding "Americans don't quit and we won't quit. We'll never quit," and that "not quitting has high costs."

It wasn't the only such anniversary around this time. The 41st anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire was on Sunday, and Monday saw the 22nd anniversary of the ''Challenger'' disaster.