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American Morning

Interview With Michael Anderson's Family

Aired February 07, 2003 - 09:15   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Kennedy Space Center is the scene of another memorial for the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. The service is scheduled to end in just a couple of minutes at 9:16 Eastern. That is the time that Columbia was supposed to touch down on the runway there last Saturday.
Gary Tuchman joins us now. He is live at Kennedy Space Center in Florida -- Gary, good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. And we are in the midst of a memorial service here at the place where the Columbia took off, and where it was supposed to land on runway 33.

And that is precisely where the ceremony is taking place, right on the runway. Thousands of NASA employees and dignitaries are on the runway right now, participating in the service. The service started off with a partly sunny sky. It then descended into a big black cloud, but the rain has held off, and now, once again, a partly sunny sky.

Within the next few minutes, we expect the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, to begin speaking, and then there will be a missing man flyover formation. NASA T-38 will come over. The T-38s are the aircraft that fly the astronauts from Houston to the Kennedy Space Center for launches. That should be a very emotional moment when that happens. Most of the employees who work here at the Kennedy Space Center have been working very hard over the last week, haven't had time, really, to think about what's happened, felt like it's been a situation where they haven't been able to believe what has been happening. Now, reality is sinking in. And you were just looking at a lieutenant colonel, Andre Lovett (ph) from the United States Air Force singing "Lord Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly." So we expect the end of the ceremony momentarily -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Gary, thank you so much. Gary Tuchman live at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Appreciate it. Earlier this week, at the first of NASA's memorials for the Columbia seven, President Bush spoke warmly about each member of the shuttle crew. Here now, some of what he said about Columbia's payload specialist, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Michael Anderson always wanted to fly planes and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. Along the way, he became a role model, especially for his two daughters, and for the many children he spoke to in schools. He said to them, Whatever you want to be in life, you're training for it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Joining us now from Houston, Michael Anderson's wife, Sandra, and his parents, Barbara and Bobbie.

To the Andersons, thank you for joining us so much this morning.

SANDRA ANDERSON, MICHAEL ANDERSON'S WIFE: Thank you.

BARBARA ANDERSON, MICHAEL ANDERSON'S MOTHER: Thank you.

KAGAN: First, I would really like to start with expressing our condolences to your family and to the NASA family on your incredible loss.

S. ANDERSON: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: One side aspect of covering this story for the last week has been the privilege and the honor of getting to know the lives and some of the personalities of the Columbia seven, and I put your son at the top of that list.

Mom and dad -- I would like to start with you, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. It seems to me that you've been raising an astronaut practically since the day he was born, that this was a little boy who had big dreams on top of his bunk bed, and those are dreams that he worked so hard to make come true.

BARBARA ANDERSON: Yes. About at the age of four, he decided that he wanted to be astronaut. He never lost that dream, and he worked towards that goal all the days of his study and everything. Everything he did from then on, he was focused -- it was focused towards him becoming an astronaut. And he reached that goal, and we are so proud that he did.

KAGAN: And Mr. Anderson, did that by following you into the Air Force as I understand it.

BOBBIE ANDERSON, FATHER OF MICHAEL ANDERSON: Repeat that?

KAGAN: He followed you into the Air Force. You first had a career in the Air Force before Michael.

BOBBIE ANDERSON: Yes, he did. Yes, I was in the Air Force when Michael was born. I completed my career in the Air Force, and Michael was joined the Air Force later on.

KAGAN: And went on to realize his dream of becoming an astronaut. And Sandra, this is where I would like to bring you in here. This was your husband's second flight into space.

Can you share with us some of his dream, and his dream coming true, not about going into space once, but twice, and why it was important for him to go back?

S. ANDERSON: Oh, Michael -- like his parents said, from an early age, he had wanted to become first a pilot and then an astronaut. In fact, when we were engaged, I have a picture of me giving him a Cabbage Patch doll that was an astronaut because I knew that was his dream from an early age, and he was just so incredibly -- it was like a dream come true to come here, and he was so incredibly excited about the space program itself himself that he could make a contribution, and his first flight was -- it was wonderful. The crew was wonderful. We had a -- he had a magnificent time, and I can remember being so excited to talk to him to see, OK, what was it really like? Do you really want to go back again? And he said, I'm a lifer. I want to go back again. I want to be the first person to go to Mars.

I mean, he was sold out to doing this, and he had planned on doing it as long as they would let him do it, and even the second flight, being the payload commander, that was a big job and he was -- he was so excited about all the science that was on the mission, because he really loved to do that also, because as you know, his degree was in physics, and he was very excited about that.

So, you know, I have to be happy that Michael pursued his dream and -- even though the outcome was something I would of never hoped for, he lived what he wanted. I mean, he lived his dream, and for that I'm grateful, because most people don't have that opportunity, so...

KAGAN: He absolutely did that, and I have to imagine as well he not only lived his own dream, but he must have sparked the dreams of thousands of boys and girls out there, the historical significance of your husband and of your son, one of only 14 African-American astronauts ever in the space program. That is an incredible accomplishment, and I truly believe that his dream will live on in others.

The Anderson family, I know this is such a difficult time, and many across America and the world have you in their thoughts and your prayers, and we thank you for taking time to visit with us this morning. Once again, our condolences.

S. ANDERSON: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: Thank you so much.

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 7, 2003 - 09:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Kennedy Space Center is the scene of another memorial for the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. The service is scheduled to end in just a couple of minutes at 9:16 Eastern. That is the time that Columbia was supposed to touch down on the runway there last Saturday.
Gary Tuchman joins us now. He is live at Kennedy Space Center in Florida -- Gary, good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn. And we are in the midst of a memorial service here at the place where the Columbia took off, and where it was supposed to land on runway 33.

And that is precisely where the ceremony is taking place, right on the runway. Thousands of NASA employees and dignitaries are on the runway right now, participating in the service. The service started off with a partly sunny sky. It then descended into a big black cloud, but the rain has held off, and now, once again, a partly sunny sky.

Within the next few minutes, we expect the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, to begin speaking, and then there will be a missing man flyover formation. NASA T-38 will come over. The T-38s are the aircraft that fly the astronauts from Houston to the Kennedy Space Center for launches. That should be a very emotional moment when that happens. Most of the employees who work here at the Kennedy Space Center have been working very hard over the last week, haven't had time, really, to think about what's happened, felt like it's been a situation where they haven't been able to believe what has been happening. Now, reality is sinking in. And you were just looking at a lieutenant colonel, Andre Lovett (ph) from the United States Air Force singing "Lord Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly." So we expect the end of the ceremony momentarily -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Gary, thank you so much. Gary Tuchman live at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Appreciate it. Earlier this week, at the first of NASA's memorials for the Columbia seven, President Bush spoke warmly about each member of the shuttle crew. Here now, some of what he said about Columbia's payload specialist, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Michael Anderson always wanted to fly planes and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. Along the way, he became a role model, especially for his two daughters, and for the many children he spoke to in schools. He said to them, Whatever you want to be in life, you're training for it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Joining us now from Houston, Michael Anderson's wife, Sandra, and his parents, Barbara and Bobbie.

To the Andersons, thank you for joining us so much this morning.

SANDRA ANDERSON, MICHAEL ANDERSON'S WIFE: Thank you.

BARBARA ANDERSON, MICHAEL ANDERSON'S MOTHER: Thank you.

KAGAN: First, I would really like to start with expressing our condolences to your family and to the NASA family on your incredible loss.

S. ANDERSON: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: One side aspect of covering this story for the last week has been the privilege and the honor of getting to know the lives and some of the personalities of the Columbia seven, and I put your son at the top of that list.

Mom and dad -- I would like to start with you, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. It seems to me that you've been raising an astronaut practically since the day he was born, that this was a little boy who had big dreams on top of his bunk bed, and those are dreams that he worked so hard to make come true.

BARBARA ANDERSON: Yes. About at the age of four, he decided that he wanted to be astronaut. He never lost that dream, and he worked towards that goal all the days of his study and everything. Everything he did from then on, he was focused -- it was focused towards him becoming an astronaut. And he reached that goal, and we are so proud that he did.

KAGAN: And Mr. Anderson, did that by following you into the Air Force as I understand it.

BOBBIE ANDERSON, FATHER OF MICHAEL ANDERSON: Repeat that?

KAGAN: He followed you into the Air Force. You first had a career in the Air Force before Michael.

BOBBIE ANDERSON: Yes, he did. Yes, I was in the Air Force when Michael was born. I completed my career in the Air Force, and Michael was joined the Air Force later on.

KAGAN: And went on to realize his dream of becoming an astronaut. And Sandra, this is where I would like to bring you in here. This was your husband's second flight into space.

Can you share with us some of his dream, and his dream coming true, not about going into space once, but twice, and why it was important for him to go back?

S. ANDERSON: Oh, Michael -- like his parents said, from an early age, he had wanted to become first a pilot and then an astronaut. In fact, when we were engaged, I have a picture of me giving him a Cabbage Patch doll that was an astronaut because I knew that was his dream from an early age, and he was just so incredibly -- it was like a dream come true to come here, and he was so incredibly excited about the space program itself himself that he could make a contribution, and his first flight was -- it was wonderful. The crew was wonderful. We had a -- he had a magnificent time, and I can remember being so excited to talk to him to see, OK, what was it really like? Do you really want to go back again? And he said, I'm a lifer. I want to go back again. I want to be the first person to go to Mars.

I mean, he was sold out to doing this, and he had planned on doing it as long as they would let him do it, and even the second flight, being the payload commander, that was a big job and he was -- he was so excited about all the science that was on the mission, because he really loved to do that also, because as you know, his degree was in physics, and he was very excited about that.

So, you know, I have to be happy that Michael pursued his dream and -- even though the outcome was something I would of never hoped for, he lived what he wanted. I mean, he lived his dream, and for that I'm grateful, because most people don't have that opportunity, so...

KAGAN: He absolutely did that, and I have to imagine as well he not only lived his own dream, but he must have sparked the dreams of thousands of boys and girls out there, the historical significance of your husband and of your son, one of only 14 African-American astronauts ever in the space program. That is an incredible accomplishment, and I truly believe that his dream will live on in others.

The Anderson family, I know this is such a difficult time, and many across America and the world have you in their thoughts and your prayers, and we thank you for taking time to visit with us this morning. Once again, our condolences.

S. ANDERSON: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: Thank you so much.

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