Evelyn Husband - High Calling: The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband

Copyright 2003 by Evelyn Husband

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, California.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1996. Used by permission. <www.Lockman.org>

Scripture quotations noted NRSV are taken from THE NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4185-1567-6 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Husband, Evelyn.

High calling : the courageous life and faith of space shuttle Columbia commander Rick Husband / Evelyn Husband with Donna VanLiere.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-7852-6068-4 (IE)

ISBN 0-7852-6195-8 (hardcover)

1. Husband, Rick Douglas, 19572003 2. AstronautsUnited StatesBiography. 3. Columbia (Spacecraft)Accidents. I. VanLiere, Donna, 1966 II. Title.

TL789.85.H87H87 2004

629.45'0092dc22

2003023676

04 05 06 07 08 PHX 5 4 3 2 1

For Laura and Matthew

Contents

Faith doesnt give us the power to change thingsit gives us the ability to cope with the tough things that come our way.

From Ricks journal

ON SATURDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 1, 2003, I WATCHED THE sun come up over the ocean in Florida. It was a beautiful, huge orange ball of fire. I stood on the balcony of our hotel room and said, Rick is finally coming home today! My husband, Rick, was the commander of the space shuttle Columbia. He and the six other STS-107 crew members left on January 16 for a sixteen-day mission to space.

I was filled with absolute joy on February 1 because the mission was finished and Rick was coming back. I watched the sunrise, which is unusual for me. I am not a morning person, and neither are my childrenLaura, twelve, and Matthew, seven. I can count on one hand the number of sunrises I have watched in my lifetime. But that morning, I watched it and was amazed at its beauty; it was spectacular. I thanked God that everything had gone so well for Rick and his crew. When fog started to roll over the ocean, I became concerned. I knew that if it didnt lift, the landing would have to be rescheduled. I prayed that God would lift the fog so Rick and the crew could make a safe landing, the kind Rick had trained and prayed for from the beginning.

At six oclock I woke Laura so she could experience part of the sunrise. She went out onto the balcony, and I watched her silhouette against the sky. She was so pretty and innocent. I walked next to her and put my arm around her. Laura, youre going to remember this sunrise for the rest of your life, I said. While I made her something to eat, she began to watch her last devotional video from Rick. About a week prior to the crews quarantine, Rick told me he wanted to record videotapes for Laura and Matthew.

I want to make a videotape for Laura and one for Matthew that they can watch each day Im in orbit, he said. I want the children to know how much I love them and that Ill be thinking about them every day.

Rick wanted to give the kids something that would show his love for them, but a toy or game just wasnt good enougha toy couldnt express the depth of Ricks love for his children. What he prized more than anything was time with his family, so he wanted to spend time with the kids while he was in space, and he wanted to make that time worthwhile for them. Rick couldnt think of anything better than telling them about the God he desperately loved. God wasnt the man upstairs to Rick; He was Lord of his life. Jesus wasnt a kind character with good morals out of a book; He was the Son of God who loved Rick so much that He left heaven to live on earth for thirty-three years before dying on the cross for him. Jesus wasnt a fictitious character; He was real to Rick. Rick wanted more than anything on earth for his children to have a relationship with Him that was real.

We figured that prior to the launch, once he was in quarantine, he could work on the tapes. I can at least talk to them over the videotape and let them know that Im praying for them and thinking of them, he said. It was a familiar habit with Laura and Matthew for Rick to pray with them every night before going to bed, so this was his way of still praying with them every day.

Laura watched her video devotional while I woke Matthew. Hi, Sweetie Pie, Rick said on the tape. Its landing day, and hopefully, if the weathers good, Ill be landing today in Florida. Im certainly looking forward to seeing you and Matthew and Mama very much.

Rick read from Lauras devotional book, and when he finished, he prayed for her: Lord, thank You for bringing us to this point in the journey that our family has taken toward this mission. I pray that Youll be with us in the shuttle and help us to have a great entry and landing today. We look forward to being back together as a family again. Rick looked into the camera and smiled. Okay, Laura, it wont be long before I get to see you! I love you very, very much... Im looking forward to seeing you and Mama and Matthew. Ill see you in just a little while! I love you. Bye-bye!

I prepared Matthews breakfast as he watched his last devotional. When he was finished, I turned off the TV and put both videotapes inside the entertainment cabinet so Id know where to find them when we packed our things to head back to Houston. The days had dwindled down to this, and Laura, Matthew, and I could barely contain our excitement about watching the landing. Daddy was coming home! I looked out the window and noticed the ground fog hadnt lifted. I prayed again that God would lift the fog so the crew could have a safe landing.

At 7:00 A.M. eastern standard time (EST), Rick and the crew finished the last of the systems checks and confirmed that the Columbia was in the correct position for entry.

Steve Lindsey picked us up about 8:00 A.M. to take us to the landing site. Rick met Steve in his astronaut candidate class in 1995. Steve is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and he and Rick were two of the ten pilots accepted by NASA for astronaut training that year. Each crew selects astronaut escorts who help with all the logistics of both launch and landing days, and our escorts were Steve, Scott Parazynski, Clay Anderson, and Terry Virts. Usually, each crew selects two escorts (Rick was family escort for two of Steves three flights and for two of Scotts four missions), but because security was especially tight for STS-107 with the first Israeli astronaut on board, the crews families had a total of four escorts. Rick named Steve our lead escort and also designated him as CACO (Casualty Assistance Calls Officer) for our family, which meant Steve would take on a heavy burden of responsibility in case of tragedy. In such an instance, a CACOs duties would be long and complex and include acting as liaison between NASA and the suffering family, screening all media inquiries, assisting with mortuary affairs, and helping with legal and financial needs. Seventeen years after the shuttle