February 10, 2003

Bush offers words of comfort at NASA memorial
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___HOUSTON--President Bush comforted the families of the Columbia space shuttle crew and paid tribute to "seven lives of great purpose and achievement" during a Feb. 4 memorial service at the Johnson Space Center.
___"You are not alone," Bush told the assembled family and friends of the astronauts who were killed when their craft broke apart over Texas four days earlier. "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."
___More than 10,000 people gathered inside the Space Center quadrangle for the tribute. At least 200, including a half-dozen victim relief chaplains, stood beside a makeshift memorial surr

AMERICAN flags adorn a makeshift memorial outside Johnson Space Center in Houston. (Paul Howell Photo)

ounding the sign outside the Space Center entrance, joining much of the nation in watching the service on television.
___"The 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," Bush said. "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."
___Religious references and expressions of faith permeated the service for the astronauts, who included several Christians, a Hindu born in India and a Jewish Israeli.
___A Navy choir led the crowd in singing "God of Our Fathers," and an Armed Forces band played other hymns. Navy chaplains--one Christian, one Jewish--prayed and read the 23rd Psalm in both English and Hebrew.
___Bush, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and Navy Capt. Kent Rominger, chief of the astronaut corps, each added distinctive brushstrokes as together they painted a verbal portrait of the seven Columbia astronauts.
___Col. Rick Husband, shuttle mission commander, was remembered for encouraging his crew by reciting from memory a lengthy passage from the Old Testament book of Joshua that included the admonition, "Be strong and courageous."
___After the public memorial service, Bush met privately with the families for about 40 minutes.
___During the memorial service, visitors outside the gate "stood in silence, listening reverently" and watching the tribute on four television monitors set up at the Space Center entrance, according to Mike Brittain of Diana, a chaplain with Victim Relief Ministries, a program originated by Texas Baptist Men.
___"Afterward, people wanted to share their thoughts. They wanted to reflect on the service and talk about how meaningful it was to them," Brittain reported.
___The six victim-relief chaplains provided visitors and NASA employees an opportunity to talk, pray and unburden themselves. They set up a tent near the Space Center's front gate, designating it as a "prayer center."
___Brittain particularly remembered one woman who identified herself as the wife of an astronaut.
___"She came up and hugged my neck and prayed with me," he said, his voice choked with emotion. "She said we'd never really know just how much it meant to them for us just to be here for them. She said she knew God was being magnified, not us, through what we're doing."
___

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