Multi-Religious Memorial Services for Columbia Crew

February 10, 2003

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On February 10, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "Pawan K. Rattan looked around the Hindu temple during an interfaith memorial service Sunday for the crew of space shuttle Columbia and noticed Jews, Indians and Christians in the crowd...The crew of Columbia's last mission, which included an Israeli, an Indian and five American-born astronauts, was a 'flight of a rainbow of cultures...' More than 100 people went to the Hindu Temple of Florida on Lynn Road to celebrate that diversity... For Rabbi Eric Lazar, the memorial represented a coming together of cultures that he said benefits everyone."