ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- NASA paid $26.6 million to family
members of the astronauts who died on the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, a
newspaper reported Sunday, citing recently released documents.
Documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel through a federal
Freedom of Information Act request show that former FBI Director William
Webster helped negotiate out-of-court settlements with the families.
NASA obtained money for the settlement through a congressional
appropriation in 2004, NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said.
Webster told the Sentinel that the families did not wish to
discuss the matter after it was settled.
"The members of the families wanted this to be a
private matter," he said. "They were healing, and they were ready to
discuss, properly, their rights. ... Everyone felt it had a better chance of
coming together without seeing their name in lights."
The released documents did not note how much money each
family received, but Jon Clark, husband of Columbia astronaut Laurel Clark,
said the figures were on the "low side" of what families were
seeking.
He said parents, children and spouses were all compensated
and astronauts with doctoral degrees received a bit more than those who held
master's degrees.
"It wasn't a lot of money. A few million (dollars)
isn't much," he said. "We had to prove our loved ones were worth
something."
An investigation found that Columbia was brought down in
2003 because a piece of insulating foam broke off the shuttle during liftoff
and caused damage. Searing gases penetrated the shuttle upon re-entry and it
disintegrated over Texas. All seven astronauts aboard died.
A message left by The Associated Press with NASA's office of
public affairs early Sunday morning was not immediately returned.
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