THE DENVER POST

Sunday, February 2, 2003 CO L U M B IA I S L O ST ★★ 7A

‘Mankind is led into the Astronauts darkness beyond our world by the inspiration were eager of discovery and the to fulfill longing to understand. Our journey into space dreams will go on. … Yet farther than we can see, there is

CREW from Page 6A comfort and hope.’ ter graduating from high school in President Bush 1972, attended the Israel air force flight school. He became a fighter pilot and logged more than 4,000 He was also something of a cut- hours in various combat aircraft. up, those who knew him said. He fought in the Yom Kippur War “Willie had one of the best sens- of 1973 and in the Lebanon conflict es of humor of any kid you’d ever in 1982. seen,” said Ed Jarman, who taught He received a bachelor of sci- McCool’s high school chemistry ence degree in electronics and com- class. “He could rig up the most puter engineering from the Univer- comical ways of explaining scien- sity of Tel Aviv in 1987, and in tific principles.” 1994 he was promoted to colonel Jarman said McCool was highly and assigned to head the air dependable. “If I needed trash force’s weapons development and picked up on the school grounds, acquisition division. I’d make him a committee of one.” Ramon was selected as an astro- He had always been interested in naut candidate in 1997 as a result joining in the Navy, Jarman said; of a science agreement two years his father was a chief petty officer earlier between President Clinton in the Navy. and Shimon Peres, then the Israeli McCool graduated second in his foreign minister. He and his wife, 1983 class at the Naval Academy, Rona, moved to Houston in 1998 so where he ran with the cross-coun- he could begin training at Johnson Associated Press try track team. Space Center. He is also survived The commander of his mission, by four children ages 6 to 14. The crew of Columbia waves to a NASA television camera aboard the shuttle Jan. 20, four days after space shuttle’s launch. Rick D. Husband, was also from — Wareen Levy west Texas, and the area was in and A-6E Intruder attack aircraft “This picture said it all — he’s Michael Anderson went to school While Anderson was a role mod- mourning Saturday. DAVID M. BROWN and joined the test pilot school in black, he’s an astronaut — it was a in Cheney, a farm town next to the el in Spokane as one of the few The Columbia mission was Mc- 1995. The next year, he was select- huge motivator,” Watkins said in base. black astronauts, he would have Cool’s first trip into space. He was ed as an astronaut. an interview. Today, inside Cheney High stood out even if he had never gone an experienced test pilot, one of Acrobat, test pilot “Although as a boy I had Born on Christmas Day 1959 in School are a plaque and picture of to space, friends said. the Navy’s elite airmen, and had dreamed about going into space, I Plattsburgh, N.Y., the son of an Anderson, the astronaut who never “If you know what the character logged more than 2,800 flight pursued his dreams had completely forgotten about Air Force serviceman, Anderson wavered in his dreams. of an eagle is like, that is Michael hours. McCool was chosen by Trapeze artist. Stilt walker. Test that until one day I received a call dreamed of the cosmos, and space “Michael’s always been an amaz- Anderson,” said Freeman. “He was NASA for its astronaut program in pilot. Doctor. Capt. David M. from an astronaut, who suggested flight, from the time he got his ingly strong, focused guy,” said the an eagle among chickens.” 1996 and completed two years of Brown had a special blend of the that I should join the program,” first toy airplane at age 3. Rev. Freeman Simon, who has — Timothy Egan training. right stuff. Brown said in a speech last sum- He was a fan of “Star Trek,” and known the family for about 25 He was scheduled for a shuttle mer. “So today, the primary mes- years, and attended the same “He was one of those guys who early on, he memorized the names mission in June 2001, but it was sage I deliver to groups to which I of most of the American astro- church with them. “He is strange WILLIAM C. McCOOL delayed. filled all the squares to be where talk is: Never underestimate your- in one respect: He was the guy who he was,” said Bob Ryan, another nauts. He watched the moon land- Asked then by The Lubbock Ava- self. Go after those dreams.” ing when he was a 9, and the ex- always seemed to know what he lanche-Journal if the scratched pilot-doctor who knew Brown from wanted, and could translate his Pilot’s steadiness, — Jeffery Gettlemen citement never left him, he said mission troubled him, he was opti- a flight surgeons’ organization. thinking into action.” later. mistic. “But he was quiet about it. You’d After Cheney High School, Ander- humor well-known never hear Dave beating his own MICHAEL P. ANDERSON He never doubted he would be an “From a rookie point of view, astronaut. son got a bachelor of science de- When Cmdr. William C. McCool drum.” gree in physics and astronomy at the delays are probably good,” he Brown, 46, grew up in Arlington, Astronaut an ‘eagle’ “I can’t remember ever thinking of the Navy, the pilot of space shut- said. “I feel like going through the that I couldn’t do it,” Anderson the University of Washington in Se- tle Columbia, took off on Jan. 16, Va. He was a star gymnast on the attle. training flow essentially a second parallel bars at Yorktown High who never wavered said in an interview with the Uni- he carried a piece of his hometown time a little less like a rookie and He earned a master’s degree in with him: a spirit towel for the School and went on to earn a letter Whenever Happy Watkins want- versity of Washington alumni news- a little bit more like a veteran.” physics in 1990 at Creighton Uni- Coronado Mustangs, his high at William and Mary. He also ed to inspire black children in Spo- letter in 1998. “I never had any se- In the same interview he said versity. school football team in Lubbock, joined the circus, performing as an kane, Wash., an overwhelmingly rious doubts about it. It was just a one of the hardest parts of his mis- In 1994, while stationed at Platts- Texas. acrobat, unicyclist and stilt walk- white city, he would reach into his matter of when.” burgh Air Force Base, he was cho- sion would be working on a split- er, all the while earning top marks wallet and pull out an autographed But on the eve of his last flight, sen for the shuttle program, one of McCool, 41, had always been a duty around-the-clock schedule: in biology. picture of Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson did talk about the risk of 19 candidates selected that year football fan. He told The Associat- half of the shuttle crew members He attended Eastern Virginia Anderson of the Air Force, the space flight. from among 2,962 applicants. ed Press in an interview that he worked while the other half slept. Medical School and joined the black astronaut who grew up in “There’s always that unknown,” He logged more than 211 hours was rooting for the Oakland Raid- “I think it’s going to be very diffi- Navy as soon as he finished his in- their town and died on space shut- he said to reporters just before the in space, according to NASA. ers in last Sunday’s Super Bowl, cult,” he said. “That’s why we’re ternship. He was sent to a military tle Columbia on Saturday. Columbia lifted off on Jan. 16. He was on the shuttle-Mir dock- having grown up in San Diego. focusing now in advance on doing hospital in Alaska, and then served “These kids, some of them have Anderson’s parents, Bobbie and ing mission in 1998, when the crew He was an athlete — a runner, everything very efficiently on on an aircraft carrier. In 1988, no hope, and their eyes would light Barbara Anderson, live in Spo- transferred more than 9,000 swimmer and a back-country time. We hope we can do whatever Brown was selected for pilot train- up when they saw this picture,” kane. The family moved to the pounds of scientific equipment and camper — and played the guitar measures are necessary to get us ing, a rarity for Navy doctors. He said Watkins, who taught young area about 30 years ago, friends other hardware from Endeavour and chess. He was even known to into bed.” graduated No. 1 in his naval avia- Michael Anderson in Sunday school said, because Bobbie Anderson was to the Russian space station. play chess via e-mail with crew McCool was married and had tion class. at Morning Star Baptist Church in assigned to Fairchild Air Force He was married to the former members of the international three sons. He flew F-18 Hornet jet fighters Spokane. Base about 25 miles from Spokane. Sandra Lynn Hawkins. space station. — Alan Feuer

DENVER LIVES TOUCHED ISRAEL MOURNS HERO ‘Mediator Jewish astronaut carried between the dreams of his nation By James Bennet A brother-in-law of Ramon The New York Times spoke briefly on the radio Satur- us, heaven’ day, but he was crying so hard that MODIIN, Israel — He was the newest hero of a country yearning the interview was abandoned. By Jeffrey Leib for one, and in towns like this one President Bush called Prime Denver Post Staff Writer across Israel people gathered in Minister Ariel Sharon on Saturday front of their television sets Satur- and called it a tragic day for the About two weeks ago, Denver day, happy and expectant, to families of the astronauts and for residents David and Louise watch the homecoming of Col. Ilan science, the Israeli government Kazzaz were at Kennedy Space Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut. said in a statement. Center in Florida to watch the Ramon’s father, Eliezer Wolfer- The statement quoted Sharon as launch of space shuttle Columbia. man, was in a studio of Channel delivering his condolences to the They were there to watch friend Two television, on a panel watch- American people and saying, “Let Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astro- ing the landing live. Wolferman us pray together and support each naut, take off for outer space. spoke about his last conversation other.” The Foreign Ministry sent a “It was so beautiful, no picture with his son, via video link from Houston. He recalled how Ramon’s team to bring home relatives of can describe it,” Louise said Satur- children asked their father to turn Ramon who had gone to the U.S. to day morning, fighting back tears somersaults in space. welcome him back from space. as CNN replayed the grim news Then Channel Two’s correspon- Despite an election campaign about Ramon and the other six as- dent at Cape Canaveral sliced in, and the grinding developments of tronauts aboard Columbia. urgent and grave. the Palestinian conflict — or per- She recalled the brilliant blue “Danny, there’s a problem here,” haps because of all that — Israelis sky and the contrail left by the he said. “The communications with had raptly followed Ramon’s mis- shuttle as it rocketed toward the the shuttle are cut.” sion. heavens: “It was like the blue and No one here knew it yet, but in On instructions from Israeli white of the Israeli flag.” the morning sunshine above Texas schoolchildren studying science, he Ramon, his wife and four chil- the spacecraft had begun burning performed an experiment on grow- dren had stayed with the Kazzaz up. ing crystals in space. He moni- family during a five-day visit to The Denver Post / Kathryn Scott Osler It is not too much to say that tored the movement of a dust cloud over the Mediterranean. He Denver in April 1999. They were along with an Israeli flag and a Louise Kazzaz of Denver pores over memories of space shuttle Columbia astronaut Ilan Ramon, who said the kiddush service, celebrat- here as part of ceremonies mark- visited Kazzaz and her husband, David, in April 1999 with his wife and four children. ‘It was like the blue sketch by a child killed in the Holo- caust, Ramon, a 48-year-old father ing the Sabbath in space, and he ing Israel’s independence day and and white of the Israeli flag,’ she said of the sky during the shuttle launch, which she witnessed. was awakened one morning by Mis- Day of Remembrance. of four, carried Israel’s dreams with him. sion Control officials singing a He- “Ilan called and said, ‘My kids Holding small glass candle- Ramon, an F-16 pilot and veter- to return to Colorado in March for An air force pilot, he had per- brew song. will destroy the house,’ ” Louise sticks, adorned with tiny glass To- an of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a ski vacation, Louise Kazzaz formed his share of military mis- Workers at Israel’s Army Radio said, remembering that she rah scrolls — another gift from spoke at the BMH-BJ Synagogue, said. sions, even taking part in the bomb- composed and performed an Israe- brushed off his concerns and insist- the Ramons — Louise remem- Denver’s Jewish Community Cen- David Kazzaz recalled how mod- ing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in li version of David Bowie’s “Space ed that they stay in her home. bered how enthralled the pilot’s ter and Theodor Herzl Jewish Day est and unassuming Ilan Ramon 1981. But as he rose into space Oddity” in Ramon’s honor. “It’s a Kazzaz picked up the Ramons children were with the wet spring School. was. more than two weeks ago, he bummer, because it’s very cold at Denver International Airport, snow that was remaining in the At a Saturday morning service “We had long philosophical seemed to transcend the conflict. and everyone here is speaking En- glish,” the lyrics ran. and the Israel air force colonel Kazzazes’ front yard. at the synagogue nearly four talks about the importance of the “One cannot remain indifferent and his family posed at the DIA years ago, the cantor introduced mission and of being in space,” to the sight of an Israeli who has The swell of public admiration was so great that Ramon’s father, statue of the late Colorado-born She brought out a snapshot of Ramon by belting out the first said David Kazzaz, a retired Den- the great privilege of being so de- in classic Israeli fashion, was quot- astronaut Jack Swigert Jr. Ilan, Rona and two of their sons line of “Fly Me to the Moon.” ver psychiatrist. “He spoke about tached from everything that hap- with a giant snowball the kids had being a mediator between us here pens here, floating there in another ed as wondering if a little more At her home Saturday morning, Segelman said in a phone inter- rolled up. on Earth and heaven.” world, like one of the angels,” modesty might not be in order. Louise Kazzaz spread out the me- view from Israel that she had Avraham Tirosh wrote in the news- Writing in the newspaper Ye- mentos of her friendship with Ilan Ramon had come to Denver grown up with Ramon. On Satur- David Kazzaz said Ilan Ramon paper Maariv on the day after Ra- dioth Ahronot, the journalist Yaron Ramon. shortly after starting astronaut day, she and millions of Israelis also accepted the symbolic impor- mon took off. London noted, “We are not succeed- As a gesture of thanks for the training. were watching TV expecting to tance of being the first Israeli as- Although he jokingly expressed ing in preventing Palestinian teen- Kazzazes’ hospitality, the astro- see their national hero make a tronaut. concern about the possibility of an agers from blowing us up with naut and pilot had given them a Ronit Segelman, Israel’s emis- safe return to Earth. “He saw that he was not just Israeli settlement on the moon, bombs made with organic fertiliz- book, “Jerusalem Skyline,” with sary to Denver and a friend of the representing himself or even the Yasser Abed Rabbo, the spokes- er, but we have our first Hebrew “He was very laid-back, very the inscription, “To Louise and Kazzaz family, helped organize Israeli government, but that he man for the Palestinian Authority, astronaut since Elijah the Prophet David, with appreciation. Rona, the Ramons’ 1999 visit to Colo- humble,” Segelman said. was representing Jews all over had also set the conflict aside to ascended in a storm heaven- Ilan & the kids.” rado. Ramon and his family planned the world,” Kazzaz said. wish Ramon a safe return. wards.”