[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 4, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E124-E125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO THE LATE DR. LAUREL CLARK, ``COLUMBIA'' ASTRONAUT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 4, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, it is with profound sadness 
that I rise today to express my sorrow over the loss the seven 
astronauts on board the shuttle Columbia. At a time when there seemed 
to be more than enough tragic news to go around, we woke up on a 
Saturday morning to news reports about a missing space shuttle, and 
then images of a disintegrating, burning spacecraft streaking across 
the sky. The memories of the Challenger accident were brought back for 
all of us, with the same sense of shared sadness.
  The six American astronauts, together with their Israeli colleague, 
represented much of the best that our world has to offer. To the honor 
roll of those who died advancing human knowledge, we add Rick Husband, 
Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool, David Brown, Laurel 
Clark and Ilan Ramon.
  President Bush, in his moving tribute to the dead of the Columbia, 
asserted strongly, and wisely, that space exploration must not end: 
``The cause in which they died will continue.

[[Page E125]]

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.''
  Of these seven brave men and women that we lost, I want to pay 
special tribute to Dr. Laurel Clark, who spent time as a child in New 
Mexico, where her father, Robert Salton, still resides. In reading 
interviews that Laurel gave, both before and during her mission on 
Columbia, a portrait emerges of an intelligent, determined woman, who 
managed a successful career, while at the same time being a devoted 
daughter, wife and mother. She helped open the door further for more 
women interested in science and space exploration careers.
  In closing, I want to share a observation that Laurel gave from space 
in describing what it was like to view a sunset from above the Earth. 
``There's a flash--the whole payload bay turns this rosy pink. It only 
lasts 15 seconds and then it's gone. It's very ethereal and extremely 
beautiful.''
  I believe that Laurel's comment helps all of us have a better sense 
of who Laurel was. I want to express my deep sympathy to all of 
Laurel's family and friends. Those who knew her personally will never 
forget her, and her legacy will live on.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the following article, 
which appeared in Sunday's Albuquerque Journal, be printed in the 
Record following my remarks.

                     [From the Albuquerque Journal]

               Albuquerque Father Recalls ``A Fine Lady''

                           (By Leanne Potts)

       Robert Salton had gone into the back yard of his 
     Albuquerque home at dawn Saturday to look for his oldest 
     child in the western sky.
       His daughter, Laurel Clark, was an astronaut aboard the 
     space shuttle Columbia. It was her first mission, and her 
     daddy had just heard on CNN that people in New Mexico should 
     be able to see the shuttle's trail as it flew over the state 
     en route to its landing in Florida.
       ``I saw one long contrail in the sky going from west to 
     east,'' Salton said. ``I'm pretty sure that was it. That was 
     her.''
       Less than 20 minutes later Salton and his wife, Harriet, 
     heard the news on television: NASA had lost contact with the 
     shuttle.
       ``Then that TV reporter in Dallas had the footage that 
     showed the breakup,'' Salton said. ``And we knew what had 
     happened.''
       The oldest of Salton's four children--the daughter who had 
     made A's in school, gone to medical school on a full Navy 
     scholarship and made the space program while she was five 
     months pregnant--was dead.
       ``She was just a fine lady,'' Salton said. ``I was proud of 
     her accomplishments, of course, but she was a good person, 
     too.''
       Behind him, on a table in his home in a middle-class 
     neighborhood near University -Boulevard and Indian School 
     Road, were photos reminding the retired 69-year-old carpenter 
     of the accomplishments of his golden child.
       There was Clark and her brother, Jon Salton, an engineer at 
     Sandia National Laboratories, grinning together in a training 
     plane that produces weightlessness. Clark is floating upside 
     down, wearing her blue astronaut jumpsuit; her eyes sparkle 
     like someone who knows her dream is in reach.
       There was Salton's grandson--Laurel's 8-year-old son, Iain 
     Clark--holding a feather and a bone in some Southwestern 
     canyon.
       There was a color 8-by-10 of Laurel's official NASA photo, 
     the one where her smile shows her dimples, the one Americans 
     have seen dozens of times since news broke that the space 
     shuttle Columbia blew up 207,000 feet in the air over Texas.
       On the photo, Laurel had written: ``To a wonderful father--
     I wouldn't be where I am without your guidance, support and 
     love.''
       The word love was underlined.


                             Ringing phones

       By 1 p.m. Saturday, the Saltons had turned off their TV. 
     They couldn't watch any more news reports about debris 
     raining from the Texas sky.
       Their phone rang nonstop. Family called. Friends called. 
     Reporters called. Powerful people called.
       ``The governor called and left a message,'' Harriet Salton 
     said. ``We heard from that congressman from the southern part 
     of the state, too.''
       The phone rang again. ``It's Heather,'' Harriet called to 
     her husband. Robert took the call, but was off the phone in 
     about two minutes.
       ``Wrong Heather,'' he said. ``I thought it was Heather 
     Salton (his niece) but it was Heather Wilson. I wouldn't have 
     picked up the phone for a congressman.''
       The phone rang a few minutes later; Harriet looked at the 
     Caller ID. ``It's Dan Rather again,'' she said.
       They let the answering machine take it.


                            Very tough lady

       Clark, 41, was born in Iowa. The Saltons moved a lot, and 
     Clark lived here in Albuquerque two years in 1970s.
       She went to the fifth grade at Hodgin Elementary around 
     1971 while Robert Salton worked on a doctorate in American 
     Studies at the University of New Mexico. Clark's mother, 
     Margory, was an RN.
       The Saltons moved to New York but returned to Albuquerque a 
     year or so later, where Clark attended Monroe Middle School 
     for a year.
       Her parents divorced, and Clark moved to Wisconsin with her 
     mother. Clark went to high school in Racine, Wis., a city of 
     84,000 that, according to her official NASA biography, she 
     considers to be her hometown.
       She was an A-student at Horlick High. ``The only B she ever 
     made was in typing,'' Robert Salton said.
       She got a Navy scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-
     Madison, where she got a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1983 
     and a doctorate in medicine in 1987.
       Clark joined the Navy and was working as a flight surgeon, 
     based in Pensacola, Fla., when she decided to try out for the 
     space program. Clark didn't make the program the first 
     tryout.
       ``Then she got pregnant, and I figured that was it for her 
     being an astronaut,'' Robert Salton said.
       But Clark tried out again in 1996 when she was five months 
     pregnant with her son Iain. She got in.
       ``She is--she was--a very tough lady,'' Robert Salton said.
       Clark lived in Houston with her husband, Jonathan Clark, 
     and son, Iain. Her husband is also in the space program.
       Clark's husband and son had gone to Florida to see the 
     shuttle landing, as had Clark's sister, Lynne Salton of 
     Kansas City, Mo. The rest of the family was watching on 
     television, Salton said.
       During the Columbia's 16-day mission, Clark had been in 
     contact with some of her siblings via e-mail.
       ``The kids have been forwarding me her e-mails this 
     morning. She was real excited, talking about watching 
     lightning storms over the Pacific.''
       Salton said he saw his daughter for the last time in 
     December, when she came to Albuquerque for Christmas.
       ``She was pumped about the (shuttle) trip,'' Salton said. 
     ``She was so excited. It was something she had worked for for 
     six or seven years.''
       The Saltons said Laurel was aware of the risks involved in 
     space travel, but not worried about them. At least not enough 
     to miss a chance to fly in the stars.
       ``She was doing what she loved to do,'' Harriet Salton 
     said. ``She fulfilled her dream. Not many of us get to do 
     that.''

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