20 years ago: Columbia disaster stunned Attleboro area

NOTE: To remember the Columbia space shuttle disaster, which occurred 20 years ago today (Feb. 1, 2003), I’m posting two localized stories on the tragedy written by then-Sun Chronicle staff writer John Winters, as well as a column that I wrote about it.
Winters’ two stories are posted first, followed by my column. They appeared in The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA. on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003.
This is Winters’ main local story, a reaction to the Columbia disaster two decades ago:

 

BY JOHN WINTERS
SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

Patricia Stewart knows what it's like to watch a loved one sail into the skies aboard the space shuttle.
Her cousin, Kevin Kregal, has flown four shuttle missions, most recently in July 2001. Stewart, who lives in Plainville, has been there to watch three of those launches.
Which is part of the reason that Saturday's explosion of the space shuttle Columbia hit her hard, and why the families of the seven astronauts who were lost in the tragedy were her first thought.
“My prayers and condolences are with them,” she said, echoing the thoughts of many in the area after the shuttle Columbia broke up over the skies of Texas Saturday about 9 a.m.
The awesome sight of watching the shuttle take flight almost makes one forget about the danger involved, Stewart said. Yet astronauts and their families know all too well the risks that are involved.
“It's such a magnificent thing, watching something so incredible. But you're always holding your breath,” she said. “You don't take it all in that it could become tragic, but every time they go up, they take their lives in their hands.”
Most Americans were affected by Saturday's tragic events, but local residents with a direct connection to the space program say seeing Columbia break up over Texas was especially tough.
Kevin Kelley of Attleboro, whose cousin Lee Morin is a shuttle astronaut who most recently went into to space last April and is slated for another trip, said the news of Saturday's disaster hit the family hard.
His wife Cindy agreed that the mishap was both sad and shocking for everyone in the household.
“It definitely hit closer to home,” she said. “You never think this is going to happen. After the kids heard it, they put an American flag on the front door. It affected them even more.”
The family traveled to the Kennedy Space Center launch site in Florida last year to watch Morin embark on his shuttle mission aboard the Atlantis.
The Kelleys' son, Michael, 12, exchanged emails with Morin while he was in space last year, and is excited by the fact that he's related to an astronaut. He was saddened to see these seven astronauts meet such a terrible fate, as was the Kelleys' 16-year-old daughter, Meaghan.
Even scarier for Kevin Kelley was the fact that the crew were in the same training class as his cousin. It brought home the dangerous career that his cousin has chosen.
“The first thing I thought was how terrible it is to lose the astronauts,” he said. “The second thing was a little relief that it wasn't his flight.”
Danger is indeed part of the job, and that's something that Kevin Kelley is always aware of when his cousin is slated for a shuttle flight.
“It's always in the back of your mind with everything that had happened before. They're basically riding a giant bomb,” he said.
Meanwhile, other local residents who didn't have such a direct connection to America's space program, also expressed surprise and sadness in the wake of the mishap. Many of those watching the television coverage at the counter of Morin's Diner in downtown Attleboro, shared their thoughts Saturday afternoon.
“It's a sad day for the country,” said Diane Morris of Attleboro.Rita Bagley and Veronica Conlon, two Pawtucket residents watching the coverage at Morin's, wondered, as did many Americans, if the age and condition of the 24-year-old shuttle contributed to the mishap.
“I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it,” Bagley said.
The Columbia was the first of NASA's shuttles to go into space, delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in 1979. It was two years later, on April 12, 1981, that it made the first space shuttle mission.
This was Columbia's 28th trip into space. In all, there have been 113 shuttle flights in the program's 22 years.
Over the years, Columbia underwent hundreds of modifications, and in January, shortly after the shuttle lifted off on this mission, a piece of insulation foam on its external fuel tank came off and hit its left wing.
NASA officials said this had nothing to do with Saturday's incident. But Veronica Conlon wondered if this had anything to do with Saturday's disaster.
“It was more than 20 years old; why were they still using it?” she said.
Patricia Stewart, whose ties to her astronaut cousin have gotten her up close to the shuttle program on several occasions, said the space vehicles are relatively fragile. She recounted how her cousin told her how a woodpecker once got into an external part of a shuttle and did some serious damage.
“When something as innocent as a woodpecker can do that, we shouldn't take it for granted” that the shuttles are safe, she said.
Kevin Kelley, who has also seen the shuttles close up thanks to his cousin Lee, agreed.
“They're very complex machines, and there are so many things that can go wrong,” he said.
C.C. Totten of Attleboro also had concerns about the durability of the Columbia, but she was more focused on the frailty of those inside.
“What a horrible shame,” she said. “ It was shocking.”
Diane Morris added that Saturday's disaster brought back memories of 17 years ago this week, when the Challenger exploded over Florida with New England teacher Christa McAuliffe aboard.
“A lot of things came flashing back. I was totally caught off guard,” Morris said.
One phenomenon that she didn't witness back on Jan. 28, 1986, after the Challenger incident, was something she saw in evidence Saturday in the immediate aftermath of the Columbia's breaking up. That's the fact that this time around, many people immediately suspected terrorism might be to blame, even though federal officials moved quickly to allay those fears.
“It's a little sad that people have to think that way,” she said. “ It's frightening.”
Almost everyone shared the pain of those with close connections to the seven astronauts who lost their lives on this fateful mission.
“ I feel so sorry for the families,” said Claudio Vazquez of Attleboro.