WASHINGTON (voa) – NASA says all seven crew members aboard the U.S. space shuttle Columbia are dead after the spacecraft disintegrated over Texas, minutes before it was scheduled to land in Florida, Saturday.
U.S. space agency administrator Sean O’Keefe said it was a tragic day for NASA, the crew members’ families, and the nation. He pledged to do everything possible to determine the cause of the disaster. He said there was no indication the mishap was caused by anything on the ground.
Columbia was returning to earth after a 16-day scientific mission. It carried six Americans and the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon.
A senior U.S. official says simply, the shuttle is gone. The U.S. space agency NASA has lowered flags to half-staff at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is to hold a news conference shortly. Debris from the shuttle is being found on the ground in central Texas and possibly other states.
NASA declared an emergency and mobilized search and rescue crews after communication was lost with Columbia earlier Saturday, as it prepared to land with six American crew members and the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon. Television footage from north-central Texas showed multiple trails as the shuttle streaked across the sky, indicating that it had broken up. There is no word on what caused the breakup.
NASA officials are advising residents of Texas not to handle any debris from the 22-year-old shuttle. Texas residents say they heard a loud noise about the time the shuttle disappeared, shaking local homes. They say they saw flaming debris falling to earth. Security was tight at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the expected landing to prevent any possible terrorist attack. However, U.S. officials say there is no indication terrorism was involved, but the incident is being fully investigated.
Columbia was returning after a 16-day scientific mission. In more than four decades of U.S. human space flight, NASA has never lost an astronaut during the descent and landing of a spacecraft. In January 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off.
The Columbia crew had completed more than 80 experiments that focused on weightlessness, advanced technology development and the health and safety of astronauts. Columbia was NASA’s oldest shuttle and first flew in 1981.
Russia Calls Shuttle Disaster a ‘Terrible Catastrophe’
Russia’s space agency calls Saturday space shuttle disaster “a terrible catastrophe” and offers to help NASA with the investigation.
A Rosaviakosmos spokesman says the agency sends its deepest condolences to NASA.
The spokesman said the loss of Columbia will not affect Sunday’s scheduled launch of a Russian cargo ship to the International Space Station from the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The ship is to deliver fuel, food and other equipment to the Space Station. Two Americans and one Russian are currently aboard the station.
Four Russian cosmonauts have died during manned space missions since 1961.
News of US Shuttle Catastrophe Shocks Israel
By Larry James
JERUSALEM – Israelis watched in shocked disbelief as national television interrupted regular programming to carry non-stop coverage of the loss of the shuttle Columbia.
There on the screen were the unmistakable images of a catastrophe, especially meaningful for Israelis who had reacted with great national pride to this flight, because it was carrying an Israeli astronaut.
The office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issued a statement saying the government of Israel and the people of Israel are praying together with the entire world for the safety of the astronauts on the shuttle Columbia.
It said, “the State of Israel and its citizens are as one at this difficult time.”
Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israel Air Force and former fighter pilot, became the first Israeli to fly in space with the launch of Columbia, which was only minutes away form touchdown when all contact was lost.
