President Bush Attends Memorial for Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster Victims - 2003-02-03

The White House states that President Bush will attend a memorial for the astronauts of the Columbia space shuttle, which will be held at the Johnson Space Center in Texas tomorrow. According to a White House spokesperson, Mr. Bush says that the Columbia disaster has impacted the lives of Americans. On Sunday, Mr. Bush attended a church ceremony in Washington after privately speaking on the phone with the families of the astronauts. He also spoke with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India, who noted that the fact that one of the astronauts, Ms. Kalpana Chawla, was born in India adds to the severity of this tragedy. Israel has also been severely affected by this tragedy as it resulted in the death of the country's first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon. Furthermore, Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, remarked about his country's first astronaut, saying: Ramon did not deserve to be taken from us. In a statement released today by the families of the Columbia crew, it was mentioned that the 16-day mission of the shuttle was successful and that the disruption occurred only in the final moments. The New York Stock Exchange announced a minute of silence today before opening in honor of the fallen astronauts, followed by the ringing of the opening bell seven times in memory of the seven astronauts.