Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Remembering Ilan Ramon

Aired February 10, 2003 - 10:38   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: The board investigating the shuttle disaster is picking up the pace of its investigation. Today, the panel will meet with engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, and they've got quite a bit to talk about today.
Let's check in with Brian Cabell, who's standing by there with the very latest.

Hello, Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.

Over the last month or so, the last week or so, they've been saying they want to get some answers as quickly as they can, and the NASA administrator says, he would like some answers, he would like some conclusions as to the cause of the crash within 60 days.

What we've been hearing over the last week is just about a theory a day. Let me go over a couple of those theories that we have been hearing about. One is, you might recall, on launch day that perhaps some ice was forming on the external tank, and that when a piece of insulation broke off with the ice, perhaps that caused some damage to the shuttle. What we know on launch day, it was a sunny day. We know it was 60 degrees outside. We know it was very warm. So that has been pretty well discounted. Not only that, but we know that an ice team was checking for ice on those tanks just before the launch. That's done on every launch. They saw absolutely nothing. They checked every square inch. The belief was there was no ice on the tank. That is still the belief, that there was no ice on that tank.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN O'KEEFE, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: There's a crew that examines the external tank and the solid rocket boosters before every launch, and they literally go over every square inch of those fuel-holding assets to ascertain whether or not the ice pack or the ice collection in any area may be more or less dominant, and if it is and it's determined to be so, the launch is scrubbed, and in this particular case, all the factors checked out. The launch was normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Another theory that's been out there for the last couple of days is that perhaps a piece of space debris or space junk collided with the shuttle, and we do know from an Air Force tracking station that about 24 hours into this flight, that something was seen moving away from the shuttle. It could have been some debris, it could have been some ice, it could have been a piece of the shuttle -- they simply don't know.

And interestingly, a study was done back in 1997, an independent study which indicated that the chances of some debris colliding with the shuttle and causing catastrophic damage was rated about one chance in 200. That's pretty considerable when you consider this was the 113th launch of the shuttle.

In the meantime, debris is still being picked up in Louisiana and Texas, by some accounts, as many as 12,000 pieces are being picked up. They are also checking sites in other states, but so far, none of them have been confirmed.

These pieces will now be brought to the Kennedy Space Center. Some are being taken there right now, where they will try to reassemble the shuttle and come up with some answers -- Leon.

HARRIS: Brian, just one question about the pieces that they have found -- have they said whether or not they've found any pieces that have left wing, where they're focusing so much of their attention?

CABELL: They found a piece of a wing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Friday, a pretty substantial piece of that wing, and as of last report, as of late yesterday, we still do not know whether it was the left or right wing. If it was the left wing, that would be very significant, of course, because that was the wing giving them all the trouble, and apparently brought the shuttle down, but so far, we don't know if it was the left or the right wing.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, Brian, Brian Cabell, reporting live to us from the Johnson Space Center.

Now we go to Israel, where people are pausing to remember a national here. Memorial services are getting under way at this hour for Colonel Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut.

Ramon was a member of the seven-person crew of the shuttle Columbia, as you should know by now.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel has the latest from Jerusalem -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, sadness enveloping this converted aircraft hangar here at this Air Force base in central Israel, alongside Bigoran (ph) International Airport, where the casket of Ilan Ramon has just been brought in, and a solemn tribute to a hero, a national tribute to a national hero, Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon.

Ilan Ramon managed to unite Israelis as he set out on that ill- fated mission in space with the United States' crew. He united them and Israel, which is a troubled nation, a nation facing troubled future, and a nation in search of a hero, and they found a hero, a hero who managed from above in an unadulterated way to get them to put aside those ideological and political divisions and to come together in pride and admiration.

And in death, however tearful, however bitter they're pain now, they're devastated, not left desolated, but remain with that pride that he feel they represented. They feel the best in them (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

And another thing why Ilan Ramon is so fondly remembered by his fellow Israelis, he symbolizes for them the link, the absolute link, the pure link in life, and now in death, between them and their very best friend, the United States -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thank you so much, Jerrold, for painting that very poignant picture, and we see these faces in grief this morning.

Jerrold Kessel, reporting live this morning from Israel.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 10, 2003 - 10:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The board investigating the shuttle disaster is picking up the pace of its investigation. Today, the panel will meet with engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, and they've got quite a bit to talk about today.
Let's check in with Brian Cabell, who's standing by there with the very latest.

Hello, Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.

Over the last month or so, the last week or so, they've been saying they want to get some answers as quickly as they can, and the NASA administrator says, he would like some answers, he would like some conclusions as to the cause of the crash within 60 days.

What we've been hearing over the last week is just about a theory a day. Let me go over a couple of those theories that we have been hearing about. One is, you might recall, on launch day that perhaps some ice was forming on the external tank, and that when a piece of insulation broke off with the ice, perhaps that caused some damage to the shuttle. What we know on launch day, it was a sunny day. We know it was 60 degrees outside. We know it was very warm. So that has been pretty well discounted. Not only that, but we know that an ice team was checking for ice on those tanks just before the launch. That's done on every launch. They saw absolutely nothing. They checked every square inch. The belief was there was no ice on the tank. That is still the belief, that there was no ice on that tank.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN O'KEEFE, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: There's a crew that examines the external tank and the solid rocket boosters before every launch, and they literally go over every square inch of those fuel-holding assets to ascertain whether or not the ice pack or the ice collection in any area may be more or less dominant, and if it is and it's determined to be so, the launch is scrubbed, and in this particular case, all the factors checked out. The launch was normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Another theory that's been out there for the last couple of days is that perhaps a piece of space debris or space junk collided with the shuttle, and we do know from an Air Force tracking station that about 24 hours into this flight, that something was seen moving away from the shuttle. It could have been some debris, it could have been some ice, it could have been a piece of the shuttle -- they simply don't know.

And interestingly, a study was done back in 1997, an independent study which indicated that the chances of some debris colliding with the shuttle and causing catastrophic damage was rated about one chance in 200. That's pretty considerable when you consider this was the 113th launch of the shuttle.

In the meantime, debris is still being picked up in Louisiana and Texas, by some accounts, as many as 12,000 pieces are being picked up. They are also checking sites in other states, but so far, none of them have been confirmed.

These pieces will now be brought to the Kennedy Space Center. Some are being taken there right now, where they will try to reassemble the shuttle and come up with some answers -- Leon.

HARRIS: Brian, just one question about the pieces that they have found -- have they said whether or not they've found any pieces that have left wing, where they're focusing so much of their attention?

CABELL: They found a piece of a wing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Friday, a pretty substantial piece of that wing, and as of last report, as of late yesterday, we still do not know whether it was the left or right wing. If it was the left wing, that would be very significant, of course, because that was the wing giving them all the trouble, and apparently brought the shuttle down, but so far, we don't know if it was the left or the right wing.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, Brian, Brian Cabell, reporting live to us from the Johnson Space Center.

Now we go to Israel, where people are pausing to remember a national here. Memorial services are getting under way at this hour for Colonel Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut.

Ramon was a member of the seven-person crew of the shuttle Columbia, as you should know by now.

CNN's Jerrold Kessel has the latest from Jerusalem -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, sadness enveloping this converted aircraft hangar here at this Air Force base in central Israel, alongside Bigoran (ph) International Airport, where the casket of Ilan Ramon has just been brought in, and a solemn tribute to a hero, a national tribute to a national hero, Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon.

Ilan Ramon managed to unite Israelis as he set out on that ill- fated mission in space with the United States' crew. He united them and Israel, which is a troubled nation, a nation facing troubled future, and a nation in search of a hero, and they found a hero, a hero who managed from above in an unadulterated way to get them to put aside those ideological and political divisions and to come together in pride and admiration.

And in death, however tearful, however bitter they're pain now, they're devastated, not left desolated, but remain with that pride that he feel they represented. They feel the best in them (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

And another thing why Ilan Ramon is so fondly remembered by his fellow Israelis, he symbolizes for them the link, the absolute link, the pure link in life, and now in death, between them and their very best friend, the United States -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thank you so much, Jerrold, for painting that very poignant picture, and we see these faces in grief this morning.

Jerrold Kessel, reporting live this morning from Israel.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com