O'Keefe remembers space shuttle Columbia tragedy on LocalSYR's Bridge Street

February 2, 2021

WSYR-TV

Sean O'Keefe

Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Public Administration, M.P.A.

Government

Space Exploration

United States

WSYR-TV

Sean O'Keefe

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up after a failed re-entry in the earth’s atmosphere and all seven astronauts on board were killed. University Professor Sean O'Keefe, Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership, was NASA administrator when the tragedy occurred. "The courage that they [the victims' families] demonstrated that day became the source of resolve thereafter that all of us throughout the agency, throughout NASA, relied upon as a way to continually encourage us to do what they admonished us to do which was to find out what happened, go fix it, and then rededicate ourselves to the very objectives in which their loved ones had given their lives for" says O'Keefe. Watch the full interview via "Bridge Street" on LocalSYR.