NASA and families mark '03 Columbia disaster

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Schoolchildren joined NASA managers and relatives of the lost crew of space shuttle Columbia on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy and remember the seven astronauts who died.

More than 300 people gathered at Kennedy Space Center for the outdoor ceremony, just a few miles from where Columbia was supposed to land on Feb. 1, 2003, after a 16-day science mission. It instead burst apart in the sky over Texas, 16 minutes from home.

Representing the families of the Columbia seven, the widow of commander Rick Husband told the audience that the accident was so unexpected and the shock so intense, "that even tears were not freely able to fall."

"They would come in the weeks, months, and years to follow in waves and in buckets," said Evelyn Husband Thompson.

She assured everyone, though, that healing is possible and that blessings can arise from hardships. She attended the ceremony with her two children, her second husband, and Sandra Anderson, widow of astronaut Michael Anderson.

"God bless the families of STS-107," Thompson said, referring to Columbia's last mission designation. "May our broken hearts continue to heal and may beauty continue to replace the ashes."

A pair of songs added to the emotion of the day. The young nephew of a NASA worker performed a song he wrote, "16 Minutes from Home," and Grammy-winning R&B and gospel singer BeBe Winans performed "Ultimate Sacrifice," which he wrote for soldiers serving in harm's way.

As it turns out, Anderson had taken a CD of Winans' music into orbit with him. It was recovered in the debris that rained down on East Texas.