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CNN Live At Daybreak
Human Remains, Debris Being Taken to Barksdale Air Force Base
Aired February 03, 2003 - 05:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking all morning long about the tiles on the shuttle being critical for reentry into the atmosphere. The underside of the shuttle -- and you're going to see that in this animation here -- it glows with the heat of friction as it hurdles through the atmosphere. NASA officials say they're beginning to believe the disaster may be connected to a thermal rather than structural malfunction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: We are gaining some confidence that it was a thermal problem rather than some other nature -- rather than a structural indicator. But, and, again, it's too early for me to speculate on what all that means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Our Patty Davis has been at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where the human remains and the debris are being taken. She filed this report very late last night on the work there and the opening of an independent inquiry into the disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Human remains have been arriving here at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Pathologists to examine and identify the bodies of the astronauts. Now, NASA says that shuttle debris will also be brought here and stored in big B-52 bomber hangars on this air force base for investigators to comb over and possibly reconstruct that shuttle craft.
Now, the independent investigation team began its work on Sunday night. The retired four star admiral leading the investigation says he plans to leave no stone unturned.
ADM. HAROLD GEHMAN: We will look at everything from broken, twisted metal and metallurgy up to top level management practices and policies. We will work rapidly but diligently.
DAVIS: The independent team is to give an unbiased view of what caused the accident. Meanwhile, NASA is doing its own investigation. As for that independent team, its members include the military, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration and a senior management official from NASA.
Patty Davis, CNN, at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And the Columbia disaster is prompting calls for more NASA funding to upgrade the shuttle fleet. President Bush releases a new budget proposal today and we'll get a preview in our wake up call with White House correspondent Dana Bash in the next hour.
The United States is not alone in its sorrow over the loss of Columbia's crew. An Indian born woman and an Israeli air force colonel were among the astronauts killed.
We're going global now for reaction to the tragedy.
Our Jerrold Kessel is live in Jerusalem and Ralitsa Vassileva is in Moscow.
We begin with Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, Israel a place in mourning, mourning together with its best friend, the United States, and seeking to come to terms with the bitter reality of how a mission which had helped lift the desperate national spirit so dramatically could disintegrate so quickly into tears, bitter tears for a national hero. But a man who never contemplated, never spoke of death, Ilan Ramon. So says his wife Rona, speaking out for the first time since the disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONA RAMON, ILAN RAMON'S WIDOW: He had no fear. He left us with the impression that everything was going to be fine. He didn't doubt that. He didn't even leave a will. He was taking everything with a smile and that's how we will continue living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KESSEL: And he died happy, she said. And she also revealed, Rona Ramon, that the youngest of their four children, 5-year-old Noah, had said when they were all excited at the launch, said, "I've lost my daddy." "Perhaps," said her mother, "she knew something which we didn't."
And now we're going across to Moscow to hear of reaction to the disaster there from inside Russia -- Ralitsa Vassileva.
Ralitsa?
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jerrold, thank you very much.
As we speak, the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, is signing a book of condolences opened at the U.S. Embassy here in Moscow. The Russian space agency officials are in a state of shock at the loss of their colleagues, yet they're looking ahead. They attach enormous importance to the international space station, the $95 billion program they say must be kept alive, and the responsibility for that lies in the United States and Russia. They should do everything possible to keep it alive, Russia very much aware that now it is the lifeline to keeping that international space station supplied and manned and it is doing everything possible to use its limited resources to keep it running.
It's already sent a Progress cargo ship up to the space station. It's expected to dock with the space station and bring the crew some supplies on Tuesday. They are also considering as to how to use their existing cargo ships. They have three cargo ships and two rockets, Soyuz rockets, manned rockets, how to help keep that station alive. However, they say they need more funding urgently to be able to build more rockets and more cargo ships so that they are able to keep the station functioning at least beyond this year.
So that's where we stand -- Carol, back to you in Atlanta.
COSTELLO: All right, Ralitsa, thanks.
And our thanks to Jerrold Kessel, as well.
Our Web site has a special report on the Columbia disaster. In addition to the latest news and video, it includes an audio slide show of the shuttle, a gallery with bios of the lost crew members plus extensive interactive content.
Go to cnn.com/shuttle, AOL keyword, of course, CNN.
NASA says it will go on after this tragedy, yet the question is how and with how much cash?
CNN's Charles Feldman looks at the possible future of U.S. space travel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Booster ignition and lift-off.
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The primary mission for the remaining three space shuttles is to ferry astronauts and heavy equipment to the international space station. The space station is a laboratory for low gravity experiments, so the grounding of the remaining space shuttles is likely to have wide impact.
ANDREW CHAIKIN, SPACE JOURNALIST: The cancellation of shuttle flights ripples through the rest of the human space flight program because the shuttle is the only way that this country has to send people into space unless we buy seats on the Russian Soyuz ferry.
FELDMAN: Sunday, Russia launched a previously scheduled, unmanned flight to supply the international space station's three man crew, enough supplies to last till June. They already have a life boat, if they need it, to get home, a Russian Soyuz space capsule. But without the space shuttle to bring more astronauts, more heavy components to finish building the lab, more bulky equipment for experiments and even periodically to boost the space station into the proper orbit, the multi-billion dollar lab could face a life in limbo. CHAIKIN: It's sort of a house of cards in the sense that all of the hopes for human space flight have been pinned on that station. And if they can't complete it, it's an enormous investment that, whose potential will be unrealized.
FELDMAN: To pay for billions in cost overruns in the international space station, NASA had to make cuts to the space shuttle program. Now, there are likely to be questions about the role those budget cutbacks may have played in the Columbia disaster.
NICK FUHRMAN, SPACE POLICY ANALYST: Whether we've put too much incentive into saving money as opposed to incentive into saving lives.
FELDMAN: Ground the shuttle fleet will likely trigger debate over how important manned flights are to begin with. Some scientists argue there's a bigger benefit in unmanned flights using robots, less expensive, less dangerous.
FUHRMAN:. You can do a lot. You can read the soil. You can understand the atmosphere of virtually any planetary body.
FELDMAN: Others say a permanent space station and improved spacecraft to ferry astronauts and equipment back and forth, is important for science and could also be a first step to a lunar base, even a manned mission to Mars.
FUHRMAN:. If you're going to do fundamental science, you need to have a laboratory that's open and active and accessible. That's the dream of the space station.
FELDMAN: But the space station and the space shuttle that supports it are not just about science. Advocates see political and diplomatic payoffs from involving other countries.
FUHRMAN:. Using this as a bridge with the Europeans, with the Japanese and with Russia now, that made this, the whole space station a lot more sexy.
FELDMAN (on camera): The debate over the future of manned space flight will involve big science, big money and some of humankind's biggest dreams.
Charles Feldman, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired February 3, 2003 - 05:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking all morning long about the tiles on the shuttle being critical for reentry into the atmosphere. The underside of the shuttle -- and you're going to see that in this animation here -- it glows with the heat of friction as it hurdles through the atmosphere. NASA officials say they're beginning to believe the disaster may be connected to a thermal rather than structural malfunction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DITTEMORE, SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: We are gaining some confidence that it was a thermal problem rather than some other nature -- rather than a structural indicator. But, and, again, it's too early for me to speculate on what all that means.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Our Patty Davis has been at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where the human remains and the debris are being taken. She filed this report very late last night on the work there and the opening of an independent inquiry into the disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Human remains have been arriving here at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Pathologists to examine and identify the bodies of the astronauts. Now, NASA says that shuttle debris will also be brought here and stored in big B-52 bomber hangars on this air force base for investigators to comb over and possibly reconstruct that shuttle craft.
Now, the independent investigation team began its work on Sunday night. The retired four star admiral leading the investigation says he plans to leave no stone unturned.
ADM. HAROLD GEHMAN: We will look at everything from broken, twisted metal and metallurgy up to top level management practices and policies. We will work rapidly but diligently.
DAVIS: The independent team is to give an unbiased view of what caused the accident. Meanwhile, NASA is doing its own investigation. As for that independent team, its members include the military, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration and a senior management official from NASA.
Patty Davis, CNN, at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And the Columbia disaster is prompting calls for more NASA funding to upgrade the shuttle fleet. President Bush releases a new budget proposal today and we'll get a preview in our wake up call with White House correspondent Dana Bash in the next hour.
The United States is not alone in its sorrow over the loss of Columbia's crew. An Indian born woman and an Israeli air force colonel were among the astronauts killed.
We're going global now for reaction to the tragedy.
Our Jerrold Kessel is live in Jerusalem and Ralitsa Vassileva is in Moscow.
We begin with Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, Israel a place in mourning, mourning together with its best friend, the United States, and seeking to come to terms with the bitter reality of how a mission which had helped lift the desperate national spirit so dramatically could disintegrate so quickly into tears, bitter tears for a national hero. But a man who never contemplated, never spoke of death, Ilan Ramon. So says his wife Rona, speaking out for the first time since the disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONA RAMON, ILAN RAMON'S WIDOW: He had no fear. He left us with the impression that everything was going to be fine. He didn't doubt that. He didn't even leave a will. He was taking everything with a smile and that's how we will continue living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KESSEL: And he died happy, she said. And she also revealed, Rona Ramon, that the youngest of their four children, 5-year-old Noah, had said when they were all excited at the launch, said, "I've lost my daddy." "Perhaps," said her mother, "she knew something which we didn't."
And now we're going across to Moscow to hear of reaction to the disaster there from inside Russia -- Ralitsa Vassileva.
Ralitsa?
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jerrold, thank you very much.
As we speak, the Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, is signing a book of condolences opened at the U.S. Embassy here in Moscow. The Russian space agency officials are in a state of shock at the loss of their colleagues, yet they're looking ahead. They attach enormous importance to the international space station, the $95 billion program they say must be kept alive, and the responsibility for that lies in the United States and Russia. They should do everything possible to keep it alive, Russia very much aware that now it is the lifeline to keeping that international space station supplied and manned and it is doing everything possible to use its limited resources to keep it running.
It's already sent a Progress cargo ship up to the space station. It's expected to dock with the space station and bring the crew some supplies on Tuesday. They are also considering as to how to use their existing cargo ships. They have three cargo ships and two rockets, Soyuz rockets, manned rockets, how to help keep that station alive. However, they say they need more funding urgently to be able to build more rockets and more cargo ships so that they are able to keep the station functioning at least beyond this year.
So that's where we stand -- Carol, back to you in Atlanta.
COSTELLO: All right, Ralitsa, thanks.
And our thanks to Jerrold Kessel, as well.
Our Web site has a special report on the Columbia disaster. In addition to the latest news and video, it includes an audio slide show of the shuttle, a gallery with bios of the lost crew members plus extensive interactive content.
Go to cnn.com/shuttle, AOL keyword, of course, CNN.
NASA says it will go on after this tragedy, yet the question is how and with how much cash?
CNN's Charles Feldman looks at the possible future of U.S. space travel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Booster ignition and lift-off.
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The primary mission for the remaining three space shuttles is to ferry astronauts and heavy equipment to the international space station. The space station is a laboratory for low gravity experiments, so the grounding of the remaining space shuttles is likely to have wide impact.
ANDREW CHAIKIN, SPACE JOURNALIST: The cancellation of shuttle flights ripples through the rest of the human space flight program because the shuttle is the only way that this country has to send people into space unless we buy seats on the Russian Soyuz ferry.
FELDMAN: Sunday, Russia launched a previously scheduled, unmanned flight to supply the international space station's three man crew, enough supplies to last till June. They already have a life boat, if they need it, to get home, a Russian Soyuz space capsule. But without the space shuttle to bring more astronauts, more heavy components to finish building the lab, more bulky equipment for experiments and even periodically to boost the space station into the proper orbit, the multi-billion dollar lab could face a life in limbo. CHAIKIN: It's sort of a house of cards in the sense that all of the hopes for human space flight have been pinned on that station. And if they can't complete it, it's an enormous investment that, whose potential will be unrealized.
FELDMAN: To pay for billions in cost overruns in the international space station, NASA had to make cuts to the space shuttle program. Now, there are likely to be questions about the role those budget cutbacks may have played in the Columbia disaster.
NICK FUHRMAN, SPACE POLICY ANALYST: Whether we've put too much incentive into saving money as opposed to incentive into saving lives.
FELDMAN: Ground the shuttle fleet will likely trigger debate over how important manned flights are to begin with. Some scientists argue there's a bigger benefit in unmanned flights using robots, less expensive, less dangerous.
FUHRMAN:. You can do a lot. You can read the soil. You can understand the atmosphere of virtually any planetary body.
FELDMAN: Others say a permanent space station and improved spacecraft to ferry astronauts and equipment back and forth, is important for science and could also be a first step to a lunar base, even a manned mission to Mars.
FUHRMAN:. If you're going to do fundamental science, you need to have a laboratory that's open and active and accessible. That's the dream of the space station.
FELDMAN: But the space station and the space shuttle that supports it are not just about science. Advocates see political and diplomatic payoffs from involving other countries.
FUHRMAN:. Using this as a bridge with the Europeans, with the Japanese and with Russia now, that made this, the whole space station a lot more sexy.
FELDMAN (on camera): The debate over the future of manned space flight will involve big science, big money and some of humankind's biggest dreams.
Charles Feldman, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Base>
