They continue to come. They have been coming to grieve, to pay their respects, to leave flowers, cards, balloons and candles.
And they come to pray.
For many, the entrance to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston is as close as they will ever get to hallowed ground for the seven astronauts killed aboard the Columbia space shuttle Feb. 1. With the remains of Columbia scattered across at least four states, there is no one place for mourners to go to say goodbye.
Starting the day of the tragedy as a line of neatly laid remembrances lining one side of the 30-foot-long entrance sign, the memorials have grown to encircle the sign, in some places to a depth of 12–15 feet, and run down the chain-link fence at least 50 yards.
It is because of people’s need to grieve and find resolution that Baptist Men of Texas created the Victim Relief Ministries (VRM). The resources of the Houston-area chapter are being utilized via a prayer center at the NASA entrance.
Don Hawkins and a crew of volunteers arrived at the site at 6 a.m. Feb. 4. Hawkins, a VRM chaplain and coordinator for Harris County, said they are committed to being on site each day from 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. as long as they are needed.
Wednesday morning, Hawkins said many people have stopped to talk, pray or just rest in one of the green plastic lawn chairs.
“We’ve got people saved,” he added.
Hawkins said he believes many adults are coming at the urging of their children. He has seen the way they interact at the memorial site. Notes, obviously written by young hands, have been Vice President Dick Cheney led a memorial service for the astronauts at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Feb. 6.
“May a merciful God receive these seven souls,” Cheney said to a packed crowd of NASA officials, members of the military and Congress and family members of the astronauts.
“May He comfort their families, may He help our nation to bear this heavy loss, and may He guide us forward in exploring His creation,” he continued.
During the National Prayer Breakfast held that same morning, President Bush recalled the loss of the astronauts. He said he felt “the presence of the Almighty” when he gathered with the grieving families who attended a Houston memorial service Feb. 4 for their loved ones.
“I attribute it to the fact that they, themselves, are in prayer,” the president said. “And our country prays for their strength.”
In Huntsville the Hindu and Sikh communities also mourned the loss with a memorial service.
These communities have strong ties to India and the space program, so they were hit doubly hard by the loss of astronaut Kalpana Chawla and the rest of the shuttle crew.
Sarat Praharaj, a member of the Huntsville Hindu Temple, helped investigate what went wrong in the Challenger explosion 17 years ago.
“I haven’t worked with the shuttle in eight or 10 years, but it’s still a part of me,” he said. “It hit me hard.”
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