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Robert Mirelson
Headquarters, Washington

Feb. 1, 2003   4 p.m. EST

RELEASE: 03-032

STATEMENT BY NASA ADMINISTRATOR SEAN O'KEEFE

"This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of 
the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the 
Nation.

"Immediately upon indication of a loss of communications from STS-107, 
at a little after 9:00 a.m. this morning, we began our contingency 
plan to preserve all the information relative to the flight 
activities. 

"I immediately advised the President and the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, Tom Ridge, at the point after landing was due to have 
occurred at 9:16 a.m., and spoke to them very briefly to advise them 
that we had lost contact with the Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, and 
STS-107 crew. They offered, the President specifically offered, full 
and immediate support to determine the appropriate steps to be taken. 

"We then spent the next hour and a half working through the details 
and information of what we have received and Bill Readdy, Associate
Administrator for the NASA Office of Space Flight, will walk you 
through the specifics of those operational and technical issues. 

"We met with the family members of the astronauts who were here at the
Kennedy Space Center and are soon to be departing back to the Johnson 
Space Center in Houston. The President has called and spoken to the 
family members to express our deepest national regrets. We have 
assured them that we will begin the process immediately to recover 
their loved ones and understand the cause of this tragedy. 

"We have no indication that the mishap was caused by anything or 
anyone on the ground. 

"We assembled a Mishap Investigation Team at a point past the stage 
that the orbiter was to have landed here at Kennedy Space Center a 
little after 9:30.  That team, in turn, is coordinating on a regular 
basis on all the facts that are pertaining to this from the Johnson 
Space Center with help from a Rapid Response Team from here at the 
Kennedy Space Center, as well participants from the Marshall Space 
Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 

"In addition to these internal efforts, we have appointed a Mishap
Investigation Board, an external group of people who are independent 
from NASA who will be charged with the responsibility to look at all 
the information that was immediately locked down right after the 
absence of communications. 

"Each of these individuals are Safety and Mission Assurance related
officials in other departments of the Federal government, from the Air
Force, the Navy, the Department of Transportation, and across the 
federal expanse. This Investigation Team will be chaired by an 
individual who is external to the federal agencies and will have the 
responsibility to coordinate all the information from an external 
view. 

"So we'll be conducting both the internal activity as well as the 
external review immediately to ascertain the causes and circumstances 
under which this tragedy occurred. 

"We have pulled together all the federal agencies and local 
governments as well. I have been in discussion several times this 
morning with Secretary Tom Ridge. The effort is under way to 
coordinate an understanding of exactly where the orbiter path had 
taken it from West Texas towards the Kennedy Space Center here in 
Florida and to make sure that the material on the ground is secured so 
that the investigation can begin promptly. 

"We would urge people who believe they have found any material to stay 
away from it and to please contact local officials. The local first 
responder groups for emergency services have been authorized and 
directed by Secretary Tom Ridge to assist in any way. The Federal 
Emergency Management Agency is coordinating that effort on behalf of 
the Department of Homeland Security. 

"I was here this morning with the families of the astronauts and their
friends. It started out as a pretty happy morning, as we awaited the 
landing of STS-107. We had highly anticipated their return because we 
couldn't wait to congratulate them for their extraordinary performance 
and their excellent effort on this very important science mission. 

"They dedicated their lives to pushing scientific challenges for all 
of us here on Earth. They dedicated themselves to that objective and 
did it with a happy heart, willingly and with great enthusiasm. 

"The loss of this valued crew is something we will never be able to 
get over.  We have assured the families that we will do everything, 
everything we can possibly do to guarantee that we work our way 
through this horrific tragedy. We ask the members of the media to 
honor that too. Please respect their privacy and please understand the 
tragedy that they are going through at this time. We will help the 
media assure that this will be the case as well.


"We trust the prayers of the Nation will be with them and with their
families. A more courageous group of people you could not have hoped 
to know- an extraordinary group of astronauts who gave their lives-and 
the families of these crewmembers. They knew exactly the risks. And 
never, ever did we want to see a circumstance in which this could 
happen. 

"We diligently dedicate ourselves every single day to assuring these 
things don't occur. And when they do we have to act responsibly, 
accountably and that is exactly what we will do."

For more information on the Internet:   www.nasa.gov

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