Twenty years ago today, NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in midair not long before the ship would have made it home. All seven astronauts on board died, including two who had ties to Texas Tech University.
Ginger Kerrick Davis had limited time to grieve for the shocking explosion and the friends she lost.
“I stood in front of the sink, and I looked at myself in the mirror, and it’s like I gave myself permission to be human for a second,” she recalled. “I looked at my watch and thought ‘OK, I can cry for two minutes.’”
She had a job to do. Kerrick Davis worked in mission control for the International Space Station. The crew in space was excited to hear about Columbia’s landing.
She had to deliver this message instead: “There’s not going to be a landing today.”
Kerrick Davis is a Texas Tech alumna who now serves on the university system’s board of regents. She worked at NASA for decades before recently retiring.
She shared her story at an event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston this past weekend hosted by Texas Tech’s Evermore magazine. The latest edition commemorates the tragedy and its multiple connections to the university.
Texas Tech Public Media will broadcast Evermore’s program featuring Ginger Kerrick Davis and Evelyn Husband Thompson at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Lubbock’s PBS station, channel 5.1.
Pilot William “Willie” McCool was one astronaut lost that day. He graduated from Lubbock’s Coronado High School and his parents, Barry and Audrey McCool, taught at Texas Tech. A Lubbock ISD middle school was named in his honor in 2019.
Commander Rick Husband was an engineering alumnus of Texas Tech who grew up in Amarillo. At the Evermore event, his widow and college sweetheart Evelyn Husband Thompson reflected on the last time they spoke.
“We had a lovely video conference,” Husband Thompson said. “At the tail end of it, the screen froze, but the audio was still working. Rick said ‘I can’t see you, either, but let’s just keep talking.’ So we just started telling each other how much we love each other - and we said it over and over.”
Husband Thompson says her family’s strong faith is an important part of their story. Before the launch of Columbia, Rick Husband videoed himself reading Bible verses and talking through their messages for their two young kids. The family greatly treasures those.
The family has remained close with NASA and its programs.
The Columbia spaceship exploded as it re-entered the atmosphere because a piece of foam insulation broke off and damaged the left wing. NASA made many changes to ships and procedures following the tragedy.
