World condolences
Deborah
2/2/2003
World leaders express condolences after space shuttle Columbia tragedy
By AUDRA ANG
2/2/03 7:24 AM
BEIJING (AP) -- A day after the space shuttle Columbia burned up on
re-entry, more world leaders sent condolences to the United States and
the families of the seven crew members who died.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent President Bush a message saying he
was deeply saddened by the disaster, the official Xinhua News Agency
reported. He also sent a message to Israeli President Moshe Katsav.
Jiang said he believed that mankind would continue to make further
progress in space exploration despite the setback, Xinhua reported, a
reflection of China's hopes to send its first astronauts into space
this year.
The Columbia disintegrated over Texas Saturday, minutes before it was
to land, killing all seven crew members, including Israel's first
astronaut and the first Indian-born woman in space.
In the Indian town of Karnal, the birthplace of crew member Kalpana
Chawla, jubilation turned to sorrow. She emigrated to the United
States in the 1980s and became an astronaut in 1994.
Teenagers and the elderly gathered around a shrine with a photograph
of Chawla draped in marigold garlands. In the picture, she was wearing
a NASA uniform.
"Yesterday evening we came here to celebrate her arrival. But, when we
heard this news we were really shocked," said 18-year-old Vivek
Nagpal.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said in his condolences to
President Bush on Saturday that the fact that one of the astronauts
was from India "adds a special poignancy to the tragedy."
Israeli Ilan Ramon's role in the mission held special significance for
his troubled country, where spirits were lifted when he blasted off
last month on Columbia. Ramon, 48, was an air force colonel and the
son of a Holocaust survivor.
"We got another slap in the face, as a nation, in addition to the slap
we get every day," said Gabi Moor, 39, a barber from northern Israel
whose shop is next to a cafe damaged last year in one of nearly 90
Palestinian suicide bombings. "It's like there is a jinx on us."
"Dreams in Tatters" read the headline in the Maariv daily, above a
full-page picture of the explosion and an inset showing a smiling,
waving Ramon in his orange space suit. "Crying for Ilan," declared the
Yediot Ahronot daily above a similar spread.
Pope John Paul II invited all to pray for the astronauts, and said the
explosion "stirs up strong emotion in everyone," John Paul said in an
appearance from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square,
which was crowded with pilgrims and tourists.
"I invite all to pray for the victims of the accident, experts in
carrying out an international scientific mission, the pope said.
The crowd below stood in silence for a few moments after those words,
before the pontiff went on with remarks about other world events.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi delivered his prayers to
Bush. The accident will immediately affect Japanese astronaut Soichi
Noguchi, who was to fly on NASA's next shuttle mission, planned for
March 1. U.S. officials have suspended all shuttle flights during the
investigation of the Columbia accident.
Condolences also came in from Hong Kong, South Korea and Pakistan.
Numerous other leaders had delivered words of grief shortly after the
tragedy Saturday.
"The Afghan people are very sad for our brothers in the United States
and we share their grief," said Sayed Fazel Akbar, a spokesman for
Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
In China, some tempered grief with hope.
"Mankind will not give up the dream of space exploration," Chen
Maozhang, a professor at China's University of Aeronautic and
Astronautic Science and Technology, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
"Facing the setbacks, mankind needs to find out the cause of the
accident and make improvements," Chen said.
China is pushing its bid to become the third nation, after Russia and
the United States, that is able to send its own astronauts into orbit.
Norma
"Deborah" <dsha...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:af498fd.03020...@posting.google.com...
> Sunday Oregonian
> 2/2/2003
Hi Deborah,
I am watching old videoed footage on CNN when they were all excited and
hopeful and not terribly frightened.
It is almost too much, just like 9/!!. We finally had some hope and there
is failure.
There are not enough tears for these 7 people who died so tragically. Many
prayers and kind thoughts and grieving must be done and offered for the
victims and their families and friends. Norma
Deborah
>>2/2/2003
>Hi Deborah,
>I am watching old videoed footage on CNN when they were all excited and
>hopeful and not terribly frightened.
>
>It is almost too much, just like 9/!!. We finally had some hope and there
>is failure.
>
>There are not enough tears for these 7 people who died so tragically. Many
>prayers and kind thoughts and grieving must be done and offered for the
>victims and their families and friends. Norma
It's not so much like 9/11 as Jan 86, when Challenger exploded. I recall
that one clearly. I was at work, the bookkeeper rushed downstairs with
the news that there had been an explosion on the shuttle. I asked, "Did
they survive?" He got a strange look on his face, and replied, "I don't
think so." We turned on the office TV and watched, all of us stunned.
Then we cried.
Over this, I shed tears, but not as many as for Challenger. Risks are
inherent in every action; the difference is of degree. I expect the seven
knew the risks they faced; it should be instructive for us that they
chose to face them. They join the roster of those brave few - Soviet
cosmonauts, American astronauts, now Israeli and Indian astronauts
- who sacrificed their lives to push out the human frontier. My heart
goes out to their families and friends.
Deborah
I wipe my ass with pictures of the whore golda meir
are the borders of the West Bank and Gaza.
Peculiar how the wreckage landed in Texas and PALESTINE? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
"Deborah" <dsha...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:af498fd.03020...@posting.google.com...
Allan Lewis
> Pushing frontiers - the only frontiers you peices of shit are pushing back
> are the borders of the West Bank and Gaza.
>
> Peculiar how the wreckage landed in Texas and PALESTINE? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Nothing can land in Palestine - it last existed during the British
mandate, 70 years ago (or thereabouts).
Allan Lewis.
I wipe my ass with pictures of the whore golda meir
theives stole the and from underneath the feet of the locals.
What goes around comes around.
"Allan Lewis" <lewis...@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:3e3eb...@mk-nntp-1.news.uk.worldonline.com...
Allan Lewis
> Yeah and Shitrael wasnt ony any fucking map either until a group of land
> theives stole the and from underneath the feet of the locals.
>
> What goes around comes around.
Israel has been on maps for thousands of years. It was known under
various names (Judea, Palestine etc.) but it has always had a
significant Jewish population. Although it also had an Arab population,
they felt more belonging to the Arab nation as a whole than to the
specific area of land they were living on. And the only "land thieves"
of recent times have been Egypt and Jordan, who occupied the "West Bank"
(as they called it) and the Gaza Strip for 19 years between 1948 and 1967.
Allan Lewis.