A Statement from the Spouses and Children of the NASA Astronaut Corps

February 7, 2003

Dear Friends of East Texas,

We, the spouses and children of the astronaut corps, would like to humbly thank you for all you have done to support NASA and the astronauts during their time in your area. We greatly appreciate the Herculean efforts you all have made to help our husbands and wives find our fallen friends and the space shuttle debris.

From left are Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Mission Specialists David Brown and Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Payload Commander Michael Anderson and Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla.

We can only imagine how your communities have been overrun and interrupted by all of the media and federal agencies which have descended upon you. We thank you for so graciously enduring the traffic problems, the school closings, security checks, media inquiries, and the many other inconveniences. Hopefully, they will be short-lived and you will soon be able to return to your normal routines.

We are awed and deeply appreciative of the incredible outpouring of support and love you have shown for the NASA community and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Our spouses have shared with us that you have walked arm and arm through fields with them, arrived with truckloads of food and drinks, and have even offered to open your homes to them. At a time when we are all experiencing such deep and harrowing grief for our dear friends Rick Husband, Willie McCool, Mike Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Dave Brown, and Ilan Ramon, your love, kindness, and support have been a tremendous comfort to us. Again, we thank you.

The husbands, wives, and children of the NASA Astronaut Corps.