Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 03, 2003
S. Africa Sends Condolences on Tragic Shuttle Columbia
The South African government said on Sunday that it had learned with shock and sadness of the loss of "seven brave astronauts" in the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas on its return voyage on Saturday.
The South African government said on Sunday that it had learned with shock and sadness of the loss of "seven brave astronauts" in the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas on its return voyage on Saturday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs officially conveyed South Africa's heart-felt condolences to the families and friends of theastronauts and to the people of the United States and Israel.
Local newspaper Sunday Times and City Press also carried detailed reports about the tragic event in the United States.
Saturday's catastrophe occurred 63 km above the Earth, in the last 16 minutes of the 16-day mission as the spaceship re-entered the atmosphere and glided in for a landing in Florida. The day echoed one almost exactly 17 years before, when the Challenger space shuttle exploded.