Sun, Jun 08, 2003
Evelyn Husband Wants Shuttles Back In Space
"Fix it and fly again." Those words from Evelyn
Husband, widow of the last person to ever command the space shuttle
Columbia. Rick Husband was among the seven astronauts on board when
Columbia disintegrated over the skies of Texas and Louisiana Feb.
1.
"I would like for (NASA) to solve the problem so nobody ever has
to go through this again," Mrs. Husband told the Associated Press
after speaking to a faith-based conference in Anaheim (CA).
Not Bitter
"I don't want to see NASA hammered over issues that are
irrelevant or unfair," she said. "I just don't want there to be a
witch hunt just for the sake of a national television audience."
The day Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry, Mrs. Husband said,
"was the worst day in my life." She told the Women In Faith
Conference that she woke up at 2 a.m. in her Florida hotel room
Feb. 1, turned on NASA television and heard Rick, along with the
other six crew members, making final preparations for landing at
the Kennedy Space Center.
She
went back to sleep, then woke again four hours later. This time,
she woke her two children, 12-year old Laura and 7-year old
Matthew, and played for them videotapes Rick had made just for
them. The tapes contained a Bible passage for each day of the
mission, prayers and private messages.
Later in the morning, the Husband family joined other Columbia
families at the KSC landing site. The clock counting down until
Columbia's arrival went to zero, then started counting up. "Rick
had already died," Ms. Husband said, "and I didn't have a clue. You
just feel like the elevator has gone down in your insides."
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