    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [February 4, 2003]
    [Pages 126-127]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Memorial Service for
    the STS-107 Blair
    Salton Crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia in Houston, Texas
    February 4, 2003

        Their mission was almost complete, and we lost them so close to
    home. The men and women of the Columbia had journeyed more than 6
    million miles and were minutes away from arrival and reunion.
        The loss was sudden and terrible, and for their families, the grief
    is heavy. Our Nation shares in your sorrow and in your pride, and today
    we remember not only one moment of tragedy but seven lives of great
    purpose and achievement.
        To leave behind Earth and air and gravity is an ancient dream of
    humanity. For these seven, it was a dream fulfilled. Each of these
    astronauts had the daring and discipline required of their calling. Each
    of them knew that great endeavors are inseparable from great risks, and
    each of them accepted those risks willingly, even joyfully, in the cause
    of discovery.
        Rick Husband was a boy of 4 when he first thought of being an
    astronaut. As a man, and having become an astronaut, he found it was
    even more important to love his family and serve his Lord. One of Rick's
    favorite hymns was ``How Great Thou Art,'' which offers these words of
    praise: ``I see the stars. I hear the mighty thunder. Thy power
    throughout the universe displayed.''
        David Brown was first drawn to the stars as a little boy with a
    telescope in his backyard. He admired astronauts, but, as he said, ``I
    thought they were movie stars. I thought I was kind of a normal kid.''
    David grew up to be a physician, an aviator who could land on the deck
    of a carrier in the middle of the night, and a shuttle astronaut. His
    brother asked him several weeks ago what would happen if something went
    wrong on their mission. David replied, ``This program will go on.''
        Michael Anderson always wanted to fly planes and rose to the rank of
    lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. Along the way, he became a role
    model, especially for his two daughters and for the many children he
    spoke to in schools. He said to them, ``Whatever you want to be in life,
    you're training for it now.'' He also told his minister, ``If this thing
    doesn't come out right, don't worry about me. I'm just going on
    higher.''
        Laurel Salton Clark was a physician and a flight surgeon who loved
    adventure, loved her work, loved her husband and her son. A friend who
    heard Laurel speaking to Mission Control said, ``There was a smile in
    her voice.'' Laurel conducted some of the experiments as Columbia
    orbited the Earth and described seeing new life emerge from a tiny
    cocoon. ``Life,'' she said, ``continues in a lot of places, and life is
    a magical thing.''
        None of our astronauts traveled a longer path to space than Kalpana
    Chawla. She left India as a student, but she would see the nation of her
    birth, all of it, from hundreds of miles above. When the sad news
    reached her hometown, an administrator at her high school recalled,
    ``She always said she wanted to reach the stars. She went there, and
    beyond.'' Kalpana's native country mourns her today, and so does her
    adopted land.
        Ilan Ramon also flew above his home, the land of Israel. He said,
    ``The quiet that envelops space makes the beauty even more powerful, and
    I only hope that the quiet can one day spread to my country.'' Ilan was
    a patriot; the devoted son of a Holocaust survivor served his country in
    two wars. ``Ilan,'' said his wife, Rona, ``left us at his peak moment,
    in his favorite place, with people he loved.''
        The Columbia's pilot was Commander Willie McCool, whom friends knew
    as the most steady and dependable of men. In Lubbock today they're
    thinking back to the

    [[Page 127]]

    Eagle Scout who became a distinguished naval officer and a fearless test
    pilot. One friend remembers Willie this way: ``He was blessed, and we
    were blessed to know him.''
        Our whole Nation was blessed to have such men and women serving in
    our space program. Their loss is deeply felt, especially in this place,
    where so many of you called them friends. The people of NASA are being
    tested once again. In your grief, you are responding as your friends
    would have wished, with focus, professionalism, and unbroken faith in
    the mission of this agency.
        Captain Brown was correct: America's space program will go on.
        This cause of exploration and discovery is not an option we choose.
    It is a desire written in the human heart. We are that part of creation
    which seeks to understand all creation. We find the best among us, send
    them forth into unmapped darkness, and pray they will return. They go in
    peace for all mankind, and all mankind is in their debt.
        Yet, some explorers do not return, and the loss settles unfairly on
    a few. The families here today shared in the courage of those they
    loved, but now they must face life and grief without them. The sorrow is
    lonely, but you are not alone. In time, you will find comfort and the
    grace to see you through. And in God's own time, we can pray that the
    day of your reunion will come.
        And to the children who miss your mom or dad so much today, you need
    to know they love you and that love will always be with you. They were
    proud of you, and you can be proud of them for the rest of your life.
        The final days of their own lives were spent looking down upon this
    Earth. And now, on every continent, in every land they could see, the
    names of these astronauts are known and remembered. They will always
    have an honored place in the memory of this country. And today I offer
    the respect and gratitude of the people of the United States.
        May God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in a courtyard at NASA's Lyndon
    B. Johnson Space Center. The Office of the Press Secretary also released
    a Spanish language transcript of these remarks. The related proclamation
    of February 1 is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.