February 1, after 7 astronauts died when their Shuttle Columbia broke up at high altitude, 15 minutes before a planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"The Columbia is lost, there are no survivors," said Bush, fighting back tears, as he addressed the nation from the White House Cabinet Room. Yet he also made clear that "Our journey into space will go on."
Speaking about the lost killed crew, Bush stressed that although the world saw destruction in the skies, "yet, further than we can see there is hope."
Quoting Scripture, the president said, "The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. They are not lost. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to earth but we can pray they are safely home."
FAMILIES
Bush, who earlier spoke with families by phone, also read the names of the seven astronauts — six Americans, and the Israeli.
"In an era when space flight seems routine it is easy to oversee the dangers," he explained. At the Johnson Space Centre, in Texas, officials said that shortly before 8 am central time contact was lost with the space vehicle after apparent problems with temperatures censors at the left wing of the space craft.
Shuttle Program Director Ron Dittemore said it was to early to say if a "piece of foam (that) hit the shuttle wing during the launch" had anything to do with the break up of the vehicle. NASA said it had halted all space flights for the foreseeable future.
GRIEVE
"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 are not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you and those you love will always have the respect and gratitude of this country."
"We can pray they are safely home." The president added that "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."
Bush earlier spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about of tragedy the impact on the international space mission. NASA official Milt Heflin said that "sometimes it is sad that it takes things like this for a country to come together," after receiving messages of encouragement of across the country.
COMMITMENT
"At NASA, given the high- stakes nature of this and their commitment to safety, it’s like one big family, and the family is saddened,” Florida governor Jeb Bush told reporters.
The crash came as a big tragedy for Israel, who had seen its first citizen in space.
In a statement prime minister’s Ariel Sharon’s office said that the Israeli citizens were united in this time of crisis. "The Government and the people of Israel are praying for the family" of Ilan Ramon, 48, a former air force colonel and the son of a Holocaust survivor.
BELIEVE
"You can see in their eyes, they really don’t believe that I am an astronaut. For them it is really out of this world," Ramon said in a recent television interview.
Israelis had closely watched the movements of Ramon, who carried a panting titled Moon Landscape by 14-year old Jewish boy Peter Ginz, who was killed at Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
Ramon also packed a credit-card sized microfiche of the Bible given him by Israeli President Moshe Katsav and some mezuzas – small cases that are hung on door frames of Jewish homes and contain inscriptions from the Bible, the Associated Press said.
FATHER
Ramon’s 79-year-old father also gave him family photos to take into space and a brother had a letter stowed away in the shuttle for Ramon to read in orbit.
His father, who was expected to comment on his son’s return to earth on Israel Television Channel Two was rushed to a secluded location as soon as it became clear that the Shuttle had broken up, reports said.
Ramon’s wife Rona and their three small children were in Texas, where the space shuttle was to land. They have been living there for the past several years as Ramon prepared for the flight, Dana Kursch, of the Israeli consulate in Houston, told Israel Radio.
TRAGEDY
"At the moment Israel and America share so much, at the moment a common tragedy,” Sharon said in a statement. Analysts say Columbia is the oldest of NASA’s shuttle fleet, first launched in 1981, and many saw its debris falling on earth, especially in Texas.
"We have received numerous calls from the area, about what is going on. People have been calling, and residents are upset. Our guard is securing the debris sites," said Lt. Paul Peterson, of the Nacogdoches Police Department, Texas.
In a statement the White House said it had no indication yet that terrorism was to blame for the crash. Meanwhile armed guards were seen in the NASA centre to protect the data and documents, after a state of emergency was declared in the area.
Reporters in Texas said it was a miracle that no person was reported killed by late Saturday, despite debris falling to earth at many times the speed of sound, damaging homes and other objects.
