Longtime Houston Chronicle photojournalists Karen Warren and Brett Comer have lined nearly every part of their careers, from a number of World Championship for a number of Tornadoes And every part in between, however this week they’re Trying again on the fateful day 20 years in the past After they obtain phrase that the Columbia house shuttle has crashed over Texas.
Warren was despatched to Nacogdoches as quickly because the information broke on February 1, 2003, the place she remained for the remainder of the week protecting what grew to become the epicenter of the seek for the wreck as authorities sought solutions for what occurred to trigger such a catastrophic failure. Warren watched because the Earthlings discovered doubtlessly radioactive particles of their fields and NASA astronomers like Mark Kelly arrived to seek for items of the shuttle themselves.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
STS-107 (2/2/03) McPowell stands subsequent to what’s believed to be the suspected broken left wing of the downed house shuttle Columbia, on his property in Nacogdoches County, Sunday night time. He discovered the wreck Sunday morning full with a number of broken refractory tiles (NO ONE WANTS TO KNOW THE EXACT LOCATION!!!!) (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle) HOOKRON COMMENT (02/03/2003): McPowell seems to be at it for what he thinks is a fraction From the wing of a shuttle he discovered on his property in Nacogdoches County. Houston Chronicle Particular Report: Columbia’s Final Mission.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
LEFT: Astronauts Mark Kelly, left, holding a bit of the shuttle Columbia, and Greg Johnson, stroll down a rustic street close to the airport in Nacogdoches in the hunt for particles. Proper: McPowell stands subsequent to what’s believed to be the suspected broken left wing of the house shuttle Columbia, on his property in Nacogdoches County, Sunday night. He discovered the wreck on Sunday morning, full with a number of broken refractory tiles.
The city additionally grew to become a rising memorial to the seven victims who went lacking within the catastrophe as individuals gathered to pay their respects to the crew members. Watch the video beneath to listen to Warren recount a handful of recollections from these early days.
Houston Chronicle photographer Karen Warren remembers protecting the Columbia shuttle catastrophe Video: Karen Warren, employees photographer
For Comer, who now works as a employees photographer for the Houston Chronicle however on the time was a freelancer in Houston typically working for the Houston Chronicle but additionally for Getty wire providers and the Related Press, he received the information by pager and headed straight to Johnson Area Middle. The NASA residence in Houston was a well-known location for Comer who had been protecting house shuttle missions for years by that time and had a badge permitting him to enter the property.
HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 1: Katherine O’Neill and her son, Zachary, of Laguna Hills, Calif., kneel on the entrance signal for NASA’s Johnson Area Middle the place a short lived memorial is being erected for the crew of the house shuttle Columbia, Feb. 1, 2003 in Houston, Texas. Columbia has collapsed on re-entry over Texas after a 16-day science mission and the seven astronauts on board are feared lifeless.
Brett Comer/Getty PhotographsComer discovered a rising memorial for the lives misplaced as members of the general public and folks with shut ties to the house program flocked to Mission Management headquarters simply south of Houston to pay tribute. Kummer photographed Columbia crew member Ilan Ramon just a few years earlier coaching with one other Israeli astronaut at Johnson Area Middle in a mannequin of the house shuttle. Under, hear Comer recount his recollections of the times after the shuttle broke up over Texas.
Houston Chronicle photographer Brett Comer remembers protecting the Columbia shuttle catastrophe Video: Brett Comer, employees photographer
For extra data on the twentieth anniversary of the Columbia shuttle catastrophe, learn Chronicle reporter Andrea Linfelder’s have a look at Legacy of the Columbia Catastrophe at NASA.
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(2/3/03) Fred Schwim, a landowner in Douglas, Texas, has a warmth pad from the house shuttle Columbia, which landed on his property, in Douglas, Texas. Among the many fascinating finds, on Schwim’s property, have been two mice. Douglass is positioned 15 miles west of Nacogdoches on Freeway 21.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
