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CNN Live Today

Interview With President of Astronauts' Memorial Foundation

Aired February 04, 2003 - 11:11   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, at the Kennedy Space Center, where Columbia was supposed to land, tributes and memorials honoring the seven astronauts are continuing today, and my partner, Daryn Kagan, joins us now from in front of the Space Mirror. She has got more on the remembrances that have been taking place there -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Leon, good morning to you once again. And on this morning people are showing up once again to pay their respects to the seven astronauts that were on board Columbia. To learn more about this memorial and the incredible black granite wall that is behind me, we've invited Stephen Feldman. He is the president of the Astronauts' Memorial Foundation to tell us more about that -- good morning. Thanks for joining us today.

STEPHEN FELDMAN, PRESIDENT, ASTRONAUTS' MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: Good morning.

KAGAN: We look behind us and we see all these people who have come from all over the world, and all these flowers and all these tributes. You were telling me, this wasn't planned. Saturday this just kind of started happening.

FELDMAN: No. The memorial was built after the Challenger accident in 1986. and we built it to memorialize those astronauts who sacrificed their lives for the space program. But when the accident occurred on Saturday, people had come out here to celebrate. We were expecting -- we had a fantastic flight, fantastic mission. We expected a safe landing, and people came here to celebrate, and then suddenly at 9:00, tragedy hit, and no one anticipated that.

And there was no specific plan where people would go, and the visitors started gravitating to this wall and they started grieving, praying, reflecting, just kneeling down. And all of a sudden, we had hundreds and hundreds of people out here. After we realized exactly that there was really no hope left, we had a vigil, a prayer vigil, out here for everyone who was here, and people...

KAGAN: And this continues to be the place...

FELDMAN: And this just continues. People are bringing flowers and bringing notes and signs.

KAGAN: And you have the book.

FELDMAN: We have a guest book that anyone can come and sign their name, and any message they want to give, and ultimately we'll give that to the families of the Columbia astronauts. At times over the weekend there was hundreds of people waiting on line to sign the guest book, and even right now there is a pretty substantial line for people who come here.

KAGAN: Quickly, and I don't mean to cut you off, it is just that we are so short on time here. When I look up at this black granite wall, I see the names of 17 astronauts who have already died, including the seven who died on board Challenger. Will the seven from Columbia be added to this wall?

FELDMAN: Without question. Later this spring we'll add the seven Columbia astronauts to that wall, and behind me is a smaller granite wall with the photographs and biographies of each of the 17 astronauts laser engraved into them, and we will build a separate wall for the astronauts of Columbia.

KAGAN: Thank you so much for giving us some perspective about this incredible memorial. I appreciate it. Stephen Feldman joining us here.

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 4, 2003 - 11:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, at the Kennedy Space Center, where Columbia was supposed to land, tributes and memorials honoring the seven astronauts are continuing today, and my partner, Daryn Kagan, joins us now from in front of the Space Mirror. She has got more on the remembrances that have been taking place there -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Leon, good morning to you once again. And on this morning people are showing up once again to pay their respects to the seven astronauts that were on board Columbia. To learn more about this memorial and the incredible black granite wall that is behind me, we've invited Stephen Feldman. He is the president of the Astronauts' Memorial Foundation to tell us more about that -- good morning. Thanks for joining us today.

STEPHEN FELDMAN, PRESIDENT, ASTRONAUTS' MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: Good morning.

KAGAN: We look behind us and we see all these people who have come from all over the world, and all these flowers and all these tributes. You were telling me, this wasn't planned. Saturday this just kind of started happening.

FELDMAN: No. The memorial was built after the Challenger accident in 1986. and we built it to memorialize those astronauts who sacrificed their lives for the space program. But when the accident occurred on Saturday, people had come out here to celebrate. We were expecting -- we had a fantastic flight, fantastic mission. We expected a safe landing, and people came here to celebrate, and then suddenly at 9:00, tragedy hit, and no one anticipated that.

And there was no specific plan where people would go, and the visitors started gravitating to this wall and they started grieving, praying, reflecting, just kneeling down. And all of a sudden, we had hundreds and hundreds of people out here. After we realized exactly that there was really no hope left, we had a vigil, a prayer vigil, out here for everyone who was here, and people...

KAGAN: And this continues to be the place...

FELDMAN: And this just continues. People are bringing flowers and bringing notes and signs.

KAGAN: And you have the book.

FELDMAN: We have a guest book that anyone can come and sign their name, and any message they want to give, and ultimately we'll give that to the families of the Columbia astronauts. At times over the weekend there was hundreds of people waiting on line to sign the guest book, and even right now there is a pretty substantial line for people who come here.

KAGAN: Quickly, and I don't mean to cut you off, it is just that we are so short on time here. When I look up at this black granite wall, I see the names of 17 astronauts who have already died, including the seven who died on board Challenger. Will the seven from Columbia be added to this wall?

FELDMAN: Without question. Later this spring we'll add the seven Columbia astronauts to that wall, and behind me is a smaller granite wall with the photographs and biographies of each of the 17 astronauts laser engraved into them, and we will build a separate wall for the astronauts of Columbia.

KAGAN: Thank you so much for giving us some perspective about this incredible memorial. I appreciate it. Stephen Feldman joining us here.

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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