January 2, 2003
 

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Of Many, One Published in Salt Lake Tribune –
Indexed on Feb 2, 2003

The diversity of the crew -- three white American men, a white American woman, a black American man, an Israeli national and an Indian immigrant -- was what struck many Americans about Saturday's tragedy. The astronauts were a combination of steely test pilots and modern-day engineering phenoms. Ilan Ramon was a bona-fide combat hero, flying missions in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Lebanon War in 1982. He reportedly took part in Israel's bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981, setting back Baghdad's quest for nuclear weapons by years.

Mercury News | 02/01/2003 | Shuttle debris rained on Texas
Published in BayArea.com - Indexed on Feb 2, 2003

PALESTINE, Texas - Columbia's explosion shortly after 8 a.m. Central Time, spewed wreckage along a 120-mile swath from the Dallas-Forth Worth area southeast to DeRidder, La. In addition, some human remains were found in Sabine County, Texas, near the Louisiana border, according to Sheriff Tom Maddox. The remains were placed in bags and taken by hrse to the office of the nearest medical examiner in Lufkin. While wreckage was scattered widely in the county, ``Only a small number (of sites) had human remains,'' Maddox said. In Montalba, Texas, residents found a rounded piece the size of a car hood beside a highway.

The Globe and Mail: Breaking News
Published in The Globe and Mail - Indexed on Feb 2, 2003

At 9 a.m., Mission Control lost all data and contact with the crew. At the same time, residents in eastern Texas reported hearing "a big bang." It was the 113th flight in the shuttle program's 22 years and the 28th flight for Columbia, NASA oldest shuttle. In 42 years of U.S. human space flight, there had never been an accident during the descent to Earth or landing. On Jan. 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff. "These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life," Mr. Bush said. 
 

An article in "Naples News": ²

Aubrey's Cafe in Nacogdoches³, Texas, became a hub of sad activity Saturday, as students and residents gingerly took in the vast amount of shuttle debris that rained upon their town. 

"It shook the whole town," said Mark Choate, 22, a student at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches. "Then everywhere, from pieces in my front yard, to all the way across town at the bank, there's coned areas that are blocked off. There's pieces of spaceship everywhere." 

R.T. Gregory, 70, a waitress at Aubrey's, walked over to a 4-foot piece of debris in front of the town's Commercial State Bank.

"It just made me sad, because I knew by looking at it someone had lost their life," Gregory said. At the spot, she prayed, "just an ordinary prayer." 

Folks who have come into Aubrey's over the day "have been sad about it, they've wanted to come in and talk about it," Gregory said. 

Choate said that outside, in Nacogdoches' roads and yards, "everyone's out there with cameras." 

"You walk down the strip of downtown, and everywhere you walk is another cone, and another small piece, because each piece is marked off. And it's taking them awhile to collect all the different pieces all over town." 

As national heartbreak fell over the skies of Texas, the state's flags were lowered. It mourned some its own. Shuttle commander and Air Force Col. Rick Husband, of Amarillo, Texas, earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Texas Tech University. Shuttle pilot Willie McCool attended Coronado High School in Lubbock, and mission specialist Kalpana Chawla earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas-Arlington. 

"The thoughts and prayers of all Texans are with family members of the astronauts lost in today's tragedy," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said.