Colombia 20 years later: how Nacogdoches came into the spotlight

NACOGDOCHES, Texas. When the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on descent in 2003, it turned the small town of Nacogdoches in east Texas into a big notoriety.

Thousands of people across Texas witnessed the Columbia race through the Texas skies. What started as an impactful moment quickly turned into a heartbreaking moment.

“Everyone had their own story. Everyone could tell you what they were doing at 8 o’clock on Feb. 1,” said Sister Susan Katherine, who 20 years ago was a district judge and went by the name Susan Kennedy.

Sister Katherine remembers the event from 20 years ago as if it had just happened. She remembers that she was cooking breakfast at the time the county sheriff called to confirm the terrible news.

Edward Michaels, then director of the college planetarium at Stephen F. Austin University, and his daughter got up before dawn to watch the Columbia fly over Texas to its Florida destination.

“Our binoculars were immediately on target,” Michaels said as their eyes were fixed on the shuttle, a single beam of light and a single contrail, until everything changed. “Something was wrong. The shuttle looked like a 4th of July sparkler in slow motion,” Michaels recalled.

Campbell Cox was drinking his morning coffee when the Columbia exploded over his Texas town. Cox and his family hurried to the family farm seven miles east of Nacogdoches to find parts of this shuttle.

“We found a large piece about a mile from here. I think we stopped counting after 150. [pieces]Cox said. “We found pieces in pastures, lakes, downtown parking lots, yards, school grounds…everywhere. It was just everywhere,” Katherine said.

Then-Judge Susan Kennedy was forced into action as media from around the world hit their East Texas district. Kennedy was the first local public face of the tragedy.

She remembers many sleepless nights leading local search and rescue operations before the Feds arrived.

“This was their home. Their home will always bear the burden of this very tragic event,” she said.

“At that moment, we realized that we had seen seven people die,” Michaels said.

The debris field covered hundreds of miles over East Texas. It instantly turned into a search and recovery operation. They were looking for anything, but most importantly, who could be identified. Groups of volunteers gathered to systematically comb hundreds of square miles of rolling and rugged terrain.

“We kept using those two words over and over… surreal and sad,” Cox said.

For Cox, finding the shuttle parts was tantamount to finding the answer to what had happened. He said that at that moment he felt “obliged” to help with the search.

Judge Kennedy felt she was indebted to the families of the seven crew members. She also felt the burden of removing the remains of the seven astronauts and the dignity she deserved.

“The innocence of the adventurer is now shaken. We can lose hope in such situations,” Sister Katherine said.

Sister Katherine took a religious vow in 2011. Her husband died of cancer, and seven astronauts died over her city. She preferred her private life to public life.

She told WFAA that she and her husband have always lived a very prayerful life. But her decision to become a nun and join the Daughters of Divine Hope only came after her experiences.

“I found myself drawn more and more into the suffering of Christ,” said Sister Katherine.

What happened on February 1, 2003 is the history of research, both deliberate and unexpected. If you ask a lot of people in East Texas, they can tell you where they were when the Space Shuttle Columbia crashed over their heads.

It was an emotional time that still resonates with society today.