Page 150 - Cousins - Celebrities, Saints & Sinners

Husband was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, the same week he
was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 to
begin a year of training and evaluation. Upon completion of training, Husband was named the
Astronaut Office representative for Advanced Projects at Johnson Space Center, working
on Space Shuttle Upgrades, the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) and studies to return to
the Moon and travel to Mars.

Note: The launch, deorbit burn, and reentry of mission STS-107, was one of dozens of missions I
worked during my 21 years at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and at first, everything
seemed completely normal. As usual, I was at work in my Web Studio and listening to NASA’s
Mission Control as we followed Columbia’s deorbit burn over Australia. My team continued to
update our Kennedy public web site, as one milestone after another passed by as expected. We
were following her final approach over Texas as suddenly, only 16 minutes away from landing
at KSC, we lost contact with her for the last time.

What followed was months of long hours as we tried to come to grips with what had happened.
Finally, in August 2003, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board released their official report,
and it was determined that a piece of External Tank foam had broken off during launch and
impacted the left wing as the craft was traveling approximately 600 miles an hour. The impact
cracked the carbon-carbon surface, which, however, maintained its integrity as Columbia
reached orbit and completed its mission. However, once that damaged wing was exposed to
the heat of reentry, the wing was breached, and effectively melted through, thereby causing
the Orbiter to pitch over and disintegrate. While the Shuttle did return-to-flight for about two
and a half years, this proved to be the death knoll for the Shuttle Program itself - it was
announced that the Shuttle Program would be terminated in 2010 after construction of the
th
International Space Station was completed. The 135 and final mission of the Shuttle program
was flown by the Orbiter Atlantis in July 2011. At the time this is published, I volunteer from
time to time as a foreign national escort as well as a docent at the Atlantis Complex at the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

While Rick Husband and his crew may not have been as well-known as some of NASA’s other
astronauts, they certainly had the biggest impact on me during my many years at KSC. Shortly
after the accident, my Web Studio producer, Becky Tisdale, came to me and suggested we
prepare a video tribute to Columbia and the STS-107 crew. After some thought, I agreed,
researched film clips and content that I thought would result in the best final product and gave
her the go-ahead to put something together. The result surprised even us. The video entitled
Sixteen Minutes from Home received world-wide attention and accolades. A copy of the video
along with other memorabilia, was also presented to each of the astronaut’s families.

References:
1. Relative Finder, associated with FamilySearch, and the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)
2. Wikipedia.org
3. 16 Minutes from Home – script
4. LDS Family Tree attached

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