Remarks by President Bush on the Loss of Space Shuttle Columbia

My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors.

On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great risk in the service to all humanity.

In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth. These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more.

All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You’re not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country. The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on.

In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, " Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home.

May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless America.

布什總統(tǒng)就"哥倫比亞"號失事發(fā)表講話

我的美國同胞們，今天傳來噩耗，巨大的悲痛降臨我們的國家。今早9點鐘，位于休斯敦的航天地面指揮中心同我們的"哥倫比亞"號航天飛機失去了聯(lián)系。此后不久，便發(fā)現(xiàn)得克薩斯州的上空有殘骸飄落。"哥倫比亞"號失事，無一人生還。

機上的7名機組人員是：里克?赫斯本德空軍上校、邁克爾?安德森空軍中校、勞蕾爾?克拉克海軍中校、戴維?布朗海軍上校和威廉?麥庫爾海軍中校、卡爾帕娜?喬娜博士和以色列空軍上校伊蘭?拉蒙。這些男女宇航員為造福全人類承擔了巨大的風(fēng)險。

在一個太空飛行似乎已基本成為常規(guī)作業(yè)的時代，人們很容易忽視乘火箭飛行的危險性和在惡劣的地球外層空間遨游的難度。這些宇航員知道這些危險，但他們甘愿面對，因為他們知道自己擁有遠大而崇高的人生目標。正是因為他們的勇氣、膽量和崇高理想，我們會更加緬懷他們。

今天所有美國人都在牽掛著經(jīng)受了這種突如其來的打擊和悲傷的男女宇航員的家人。你們并不孤單，我們?nèi)w國民同你們一起哀悼他們。你們所愛的人將永遠受到這個國家的尊重和感激。他們?yōu)橹I身的事業(yè)仍將繼續(xù)。人類正是在探索精神和求知欲望的引導(dǎo)下，超越我們的世界，進入到黑暗的外層空間。我們的太空之旅仍將繼續(xù)。

今天，我們在空中目睹了毀滅和悲劇。然而，在我們看不到的遠方，有著慰藉與希望。用預(yù)言家以賽亞的話說："抬起眼簾，望向天空。是誰創(chuàng)造了這一切?是造物主創(chuàng)造了點點繁星，并將其逐個命名。由于他的偉大才智與神奇力量，才無一遺漏。"

給群星命名的造物主也知道我們今天緬懷的7位亡靈的名字。"哥倫比亞"號航天飛機的機組人員雖未平安地返回地球，但我們能祈禱他們均已安息。

愿上帝保佑這些悲傷的家屬，愿上帝繼續(xù)保佑美國。