[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 6 (Monday, February 10, 2003)]
[Page 151]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Address to the Nation on the Loss of Space Shuttle Columbia

February 1, 2003

    My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great 
sadness to our country. At 9 o'clock 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: Col. Rick Husband; Lt. Col. Michael 
Anderson; Comdr. Laurel Clark; Capt. David Brown; Comdr. 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.

Note: The President spoke at 2:04 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.