Thousands From ‘Space Family’ Pay Respects

They began arriving here early Friday morning, long before President Reagan had even left Washington aboard Air Force One.

Solemnly they filed through the metal detectors and took their places on the lawn, some of them sitting on blankets and pieces of plastic sheeting. And then patiently they waited for hours to pay their respects to the crew of the fallen Challenger space shuttle.

From Air Force officers in their winter blues to khaki-clad maintenance men, thousands filed on to the mall of the Johnson Space Center. They were all National Aeronautics and Space Administration employees or people who worked in the space program--members of an extended aerospace family that included the seven crew members who died Tuesday.

‘Finalizes the Tragedy’

“This service helps,” said Cindy Hoyt, a secretary in the engineering department. “This service finalizes the tragedy. It’s really a funeral.”

The sun slid in and out of steely gray clouds as the Air Force band played its mournful strains while the mourners awaited the arrival of President and Mrs. Reagan.

The crowd, estimated by NASA at 10,000, stood in clusters, avoiding talk of the tragedy, politely but firmly declining to discuss their feelings. Most had seen too much over the last four days--the countless replays of the explosion and the days of searching that continue for remnants of Challenger off the Florida coast.

Ted Sarno stood by himself, off from the rest of the crowd. He did not want to talk shop with his co-workers, preferring instead to be alone with his own thoughts. He had known Ellison S. Onizuka, one of the astronauts on board the Challenger.

“If you talk to most anybody, there’s a real closeness in this place,” said Sarno, who works for Ford Aerospace.

Among the mourners were many of the teachers from around the country who had competed with Sharon Christa McAuliffe to become the nation’s first private citizen to go up in space. And several of them said they would be prepared to go into space without hesitation and will work to continue McAuliffe’s mission.

“It’s too precious to us to let it die,” said Melanie Vickers of St. Albans, W.Va. “In Christa’s memory, we will carry on all the programs we have developed and dedicate them to her and the life she gave.”

Expressions of Sorrow

Even as the NASA people were filing around the rock-lined pool in the middle of the mall, more flower arrangements were pouring in to the space center. They were the expressions of sorrow from the people who could not be here because they were not part of the NASA family. So many arrangements had been ordered that FTD florists had to send in a representative from Detroit as a special coordinator.

Hussein Sends Flowers

King Hussein of Jordan sent orchids and daffodils, and the Tampa Police Department sent lillies and carnations. A man from Fort Worth ordered the inscription: “In honor of the crew--who will never be forgotten.”

Reagan, with the rest of the presidential entourage, arrived at 11:30 a.m. and those closest to the platform strained for a glimpse of him.

When the program began, an absolute silence fell over the lawn.

One man, in a blue cardigan sweater, sat with his back against a tree and buried his head in folded arms. A cluster of older women sitting on a bench bowed their heads.

Jets in Formation

At the end of the service, many wept as four NASA T-38s flew overhead in the missing man formation, and one of the jets roared straight into the swirling gray clouds overhead.

“I thought the service was very appropriate, very simple and very meaningful to all of the people here,” said former astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.

Kathy Stangl Rogers lingered briefly after the ceremony was over. The Reagan tribute had touched her, as had the gathering of the people from NASA.

“It’s a family loss, even for those of us who didn’t know them,” she said.

Standing beside her was Richard Lehman, a Lockheed employee. He said that it was time to get the space program back on track, but that what happened to Challenger should never happen again.

“The people involved knew the risk,” he said. “It was in the back of everyone’s mind. They knew it could happen, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for the severity of the event.”

‘Fate Catches Up’

Armstrong, who flew on the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions, agreed. “I think you always prepare yourself for when fate catches up to you,” he said. “But it’s always a shock.”

And with that, the thousands of mourners trailed away from the mall with their own personal grief.