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Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release: February 1, 2003

President Addresses Nation on Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy

Remarks by the President on the Loss of Space Shuttle Columbia

The Cabinet Room 

2:04 P.M. EST 

THE PRESIDENT: My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news 
and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m.  this morning, Mission 
Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A 
short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. 
The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors.

On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt.  Colonel 
Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; 
Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a 
Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great 
risk in the service to all humanity.

In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is 
easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties 
of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth. These 
astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing 
they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage 
and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more.

All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these 
men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're 
not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved 
will always have the respect and gratitude of this country.

The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the 
darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the 
longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on.

In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we 
can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, 
"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who 
brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is 
missing." 

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven 
souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return 
safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.

May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless 
America. 

END 2:08 P.M. EST

[NOTE: Video and audio of the remark are available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030201-2.html ]

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