Condolences, on a very sad day for Doug Haviland, and all who have been touched by the Columbia tragedy.

"Just Friday night, Doug Haviland says he read an e-mail from space from his niece Laurel Salton Clark. 'She was thrilled by the whole thing,' said Haviland, 76, of Ames, Iowa, where Clark was born. 'She loved the views. She said she could see lightning flash over the Pacific Ocean.' His wife, Betty, added, 'She talked about the wonders she saw up there and how proud she was to represent her country and how blessed she felt to have this experience.' The family was on an e-mail network, where they would circulate her messages from space. It turned out to be their last message from her. Clark, 41, was one of seven astronauts on board the space shuttle Columbia yesterday. It was her first mission. A commander in the U.S. Navy and a naval flight surgeon, she was part of a crew working on more than 80 experiments including studies of astronaut health and safety.

'It's a tragedy,' said Haviland, who lost his son Timothy in the World Trade Center disaster. "

from:
'The Seven Souls We Mourn Today'
By Jamie Herzlich and Patricia Kitchen
February 2, 2003
Newsday

It's difficult not to feel anger on learning that the White House, according to the British newspaper, The Observer apparently ignored safety warnings about the Space Shuttle as recently as last fall.