-my wife, laurel, was on the shuttle. she was a scientist primarily involved with life sciences. one day during the mission, i was reviewing the notes, and then here s this foam issue. during launch, a large piece of foam had come off the external tank and impacted the left wing. me and my colleague had this discussion of, hey, you can use a family conference to talk to laurel and find out what she knew. -oh! -you got to remember the hat you re wearing is your flight-surgeon hat, not your family hat. it would have broken protocol for me to bring up an issue to a crew member, even though it s my wife. -i remember a certain sense of relief like, it s almost over. she s almost back. -i didn t talk to laurel about the foam issue. that conference was for iain and laurel, and i was a bystander. -i knew she was going to come back. you know, i never had a question in my mind. -given the fact that you may have lost a little bit of tile during lift-off, i m wondering
and as a 9-year-old, i didn t really understand what that meant. and so, in my mind, i was like, mom, like, what does that mean? what does that mean? i was waiting for someone to explain. but then it was just. everything just fell apart. [ voice breaking ] the shuttle wasn t coming home. dad wasn t coming home. sorry. -people waking up to this horrible news. -quite frankly, i turned and looked across a big, open, ploughed field. and there in fact is a piece of smoking wreckage. -this blackened material letting out white-hot smoke. -there s some rubber burning in our pasture. -they re reporting a piece of wreckage came through an apartment roof and started a fire.
-they gave their lives for us. and we want everybody to know how much we appreciate that, especially their families, because it s the most precious gift they could give. -when we drove up in front of our house, our whole street, all of our neighbours were standing outside of our house to welcome us. just hugged and cried in the street. -we walk into the house that my brother and i had decorated to welcome my dad home. and now we have to take this down. like, this is he s not here. -we were home, but it wasn t the same. -the solution for the first day
There was explosive crying. If youve ever heard an Animal Scream in agony or it was primal. It was horrific. And then they told us that the shuttle had broken apart. And as a 9yearold, i didnt really understand what that meant. And so, in my mind, i was like, mom, like, what does that mean . What does that mean . I was waiting for someone to explain. But then it was just. Everything just fell apart. [ Voice Breaking ] the Shuttle Wasnt coming home. Dad wasnt coming home. Sorry
Had decorated to welcome my dad home. And now we have to take this down. Like, this is hes not here. We were home, but it wasnt the same. The solution for the first day was Drink Alcohol and talk i mean drinking a lot, until im just passed out. Going home, you go through it all over again. You realize. Shes not gonna come back. So it was kind of hopeless. Nothing really matters anymore