NASA Pauses To Mourn Seven Space Martyrs

"To this day, I have this lump in my gut that says 'how did you let this happen, what should you have done to prevent this' -- and I know you feel that way, too."

Those words from Johnson Space Center director Jefferson Howell at a memorial Friday for the seven astronauts lost aboard the space shuttle Columbia February 1st, 2003. It was a somber, sometimes tearful remembrance for about a thousand people at JSC. Flags at both the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers flew at half-mast to remember Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark and Israel's first man in space, Ilan Ramon.

Under gloomy skies, NASA workers and dignitaries bowed their heads in silence, a quiet broken only by a calling of the roll for the crew of STS-107.

Among those remembering Columbia in Houston Friday was astronaut Jim Kelly, slated to pilot the next shuttle mission which is tentatively scheduled for September.

"You know, I miss those guys and I think about them every day," he said. "They were just fantastic people, and I find that as time goes on, I draw strength from my relationships with them more than sadness.

"I consider everything we do on our flight to be a dedication to that crew. You can't feel like going back into space isn't in their memory to a large extent."

Another crew member scheduled to fly the first shuttle mission since Columbia's destruction, Charlie Camarda, said the best thing NASA can do to honor the memories of those lost aboard STS-107 is get back into space. "I hope it's going to be a tremendous boost psychologically to this country and to the space effort because we really need it. And we need to get back to flying, and we need to get back to flying safely. Along those lines, practically our entire mission is the result of the Columbia tragedy. These next couple of flights are very much experimental flights. We're looking at new technologies and we have to ensure that these technologies will be suitable."

FMI: www.nasa.gov