WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY 5,2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 7A
Bush commemorates seven fallen astronauts
The Associated Press
SPACE CENTER, Houston — Led by President Bush, thousands of grieving space workers and their families, friends, neighbors and political leaders paid a solemn farewell yesterday to the seven Columbia astronauts.
"Their mission was almost complete and we lost them so close to home." Bush said.
Bush bowed his head in mourning and first lady Laura Bush wiped tears as the men and women who perished in the space shuttle disaster were commemorated at the home of Mission Control. The shuttle broke up Saturday as it was returning to Earth.
"Each of these astronauts had the daring and the discipline required of their calling. Each of them knew great endeavors are inseparable with great risk, and each of them accepted those risks willingly, even joyfully, in the cause of discovery." Bush said.
"America's space program will go on," Bush declared in the outdoor ceremony.
"All mankind is in their debt," Bush said of the fallen astronauts.
The memorial service, held at NASA's Johnson Space Center, opened with an invocation by a
Navy rabbi and the singing of the hymn, "God of Our Fathers."
Sean O'Keefe, NASA's administrator, said the bond between those who went into space and those on the ground "is incredibly strong. Today, our grief is overwhelming."
"We also have a tremendous duty to honor the legacy of these fallen heroes by finding out what caused the loss of the Columbia and its crew, to correct the problems we find and to make sure that this never happens again," O'Keefe said.
NASA estimated the crowd gathering in a plaza known as the Mall here at between 10,000 and 15,000. Mourners spilled beyond the square and crowded around a pond. They stood among the trees and on the lawns — waiting to hear the presidential eulogy.
"He's the leader of our country, and his being here wasn't necessary, but it does show we are mourning," said Rochelle Pritchard, a NASA contract worker who helps manufacture robotic flight control gear.
The memorial service had a personal dimension for Pritchard, who said she had attended Texas Tech with shuttle Cmdr. Rick Husband, who was among those who perished
Saturday.
Laura Lucier, an employee of the Canadian space agency who is based at Johnson Space Center, said that passion for space exploration had drawn workers here and gave the memorial service deeper meaning.
"There's nobody who works at NASA who isn't passionate about it," Lucier said. "When workers are lost, it means a lot more. You work here because you love it, not because it's a paycheck."
The impact of the Columbia's loss was felt well outside the space center's gates. Flags flew at half-staff throughout the region. The sign at a fast-food restaurant just outside Johnson's gates read "Our prayers to our NASA family."
The White House drew inspiration from President Reagan, who delivered one of the most eloquent speeches of his presidency after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.
"Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short," Reagan said on Jan. 31, 1986, to a crowd of 10,000 at Johnson, home of Mission Control, the nerve center of space shuttle flights. "But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain."
The Associated Press
Powell to present evidence on Iraq to Security Council
NEW YORK — Secretary of State Colin Powell will be joined by top CIA officials today as he presents the U.N. Security Council with evidence culled from classified material to try to convince wavering allies and other nations that Iraq has defied calls to disarm.
The evidence is expected to include transcripts and possibly recordings of intercepted conversations of Iraqi officials discussing the country's weapons programs. There probably also will be images taken by satellites of suspected biological weapons labs, officials said.
CIA Director George J. Tenet and his chief deputy, John McLaughlin, are expected to accompany Powell.
Powell's report also is expected to indicate that Iraqi officials had advance knowledge where U.N. weapons inspectors were going to look, in line with a recent report from the British government that said Iraqi intelligence had bugged inspectors' telephones at hotel and conference rooms.
In selecting evidence, Powell and intelligence specialists are said to be taking care not to reveal more about their operations than they could safely show Iraq.
President Bush and his top national security officials have
said repeatedly that Iraq will be forcibly disarmed if it does not comply with U.N. resolutions demanding that it reveal and give up weapons of mass destruction.
Arriving in New York yesterday, Powell met first with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, whose government prefers a diplomatic approach to Iraq rather than using force to disarm President Saddam Hussein.
The chief U.N. weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, are due to visit Baghdad for two days of meetings next weekend.
Among their demands is access to Iraqi scientists and other officials without government "minders" auditing the interviews.
Blix said Tuesday at the U.N. that it was "five minutes to midnight" and Iraq must be forthcoming about its weapons during the visit. "I don't think that the end is there, that a date has been set for an armed action, but I think that we're moving closer and closer to it," Blix said.
In Iraq, meanwhile, U.N. arms investigators found another empty chemical warhead, the 17th discovered since mid-January. The Iraqis have said the empty munitions found earlier were overlooked leftovers from the 1980s.
Hussein, in an interview broadcast yesterday, denied his government has a relationship with Al Qaeda or has weapons of mass destruction. He said it would be impossible to hide such arms.
A retired British lawmaker, Tony Benn, conducted the interview Sunday in Baghdad for a yet-to-be-launched Arabic television station with administrative offices in London.
"If we had a relationship with Al Qaeda, and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed to admit it," the Iraqi leader said.
Before and after Powell's speech today to the Security Council, he intends to meet with foreign ministers and ambassadors from most of the other members.
Besides Powell's presentation today, all 14 other members and Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri are expected to make statements to the council in what could be a critical test of sentiment for using force to disarm Iraq.
Powell hopes his evidence will persuade the council that Iraq has caches of chemical and biological weapons, nascent nuclear weapons, long-range missile programs and ties to terror groups.
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