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On January 16, 2003, just 83 seconds after liftoff, a piece of foam the size of a briefcase broke off and struck the Space Shuttle Columbia’s wing. NASA officials did not consider the incident to be critical to the mission, and notified Commander Rick Husband of this via email.  His response: “Roger. Copy.” For 16 days, the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia conducted dozens of international scientific investigations and sixteen minutes before the scheduled landing and 38 miles above the earth, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart. All aboard perished. At the age of 41, Navy Cmdr. “Willie” McCool was the youngest astronaut on board, and this was his first and only flight into space.

 Today, Willie’s inspiration lives on, in part through his choice in music. For the mission, he selected John Lennon’s “Imagine” as his wake-up song. And his message from space included the following quote, dated January 29, 2003, three days before his death:

 “From our orbital vantage point, we observe an Earth without borders, full of peace, beauty and magnificence, and we pray that humanity as a whole can imagine a borderless world as we see it, and strive to live as one in peace.”

Join us as Dr. Barent “Barry” McCool shares his personal story of a father’s pride. “The seven astronauts were all unique individuals. They were all heroes,” McCool says. “Willie was my little boy.”