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Journalism of Courage
World leaders on Sunday expressed shock and regret over the loss of space shuttle Columbia in which seven astronauts were killed. President George Bush declaring that US would continue to explore space. ‘‘This day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country,’’ Bush said in a nationwide address. ‘‘The Columbia’s lost. There are no survivors.’’
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Bush to express ‘‘grief and deep sympathies’’. Putin noted that Russia and US are closely co-operating in the space conquest, ‘‘that’s why this tragedy is sensitive’’ for Russians, Kremlin spokesman Alexei Gromov said. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan extended condolences to India, US and Israel. Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi said in a message to Bush: ‘‘We pray for the souls of astronauts who contributed to the progress of human race.’’
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Aussie ‘spidernauts’ aboard Columbia
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| MELBOURNE: Australian students who took part in an experimental project in which spiders were launched aboard the doomed Columbia mission were in deep shock on Sunday after the shuttle disaster. The eight garden orb weavers ‘‘spidernauts’’ were bred at Melbourne Zoo under a four-year project of NASA and students from Glen Waverley Secondary College and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) university. The spiders were part of a mission as an experiment to determine the strength of spiders’ web in space. (Agencies) |
Sharon phones Ramon’s father
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon phoned the father of missing Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon on Saturday to express his sorrow in the wake of the disappearance of the US space shuttle Columbia, Israeli daily Haaretz’s online website reported. Ramon’s father, Eliezer Wolferman, said he told Sharon ‘‘we never expected this. Up until the last minute we hoped it would all go smoothly…Now we don’t have Ilan (anymore). A great tragedy has befallen us’’.
Israel to continue with space missions: PM
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed on Sunday that the Jewish state would send more astronauts into space, despite the space shuttle disaster yesterday which killed the first Israeli in orbit. ‘‘Other Israeli astronauts will be sent into orbit,’’ said Sharon in a eulogy to Ilan Ramon and his six fellow crew members killed on Saturday when the Columbia disintegrated on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.
Canadian missions likely to be grounded
MONTREAL: Two Canadian astronauts who were supposed to participate in NASA space shuttle missions to the International Space Station this year are most likely be grounded because of the investigation into the crash of the space shuttle Columbia, the Canadian Space Agency said on Saturday.
