Seriously Sad NASA Story

8:15 pm EST December 20th, 2007 | News | 1 Comment

Daniel M. Tani’s 90-year-old mother died in an auto accident this week, but he has no way of getting home until late January. He must grieve from more than 200 miles away — in orbit, aboard the international space station.

It’s a heartbreaking situation no other American astronaut has experienced. And it’s made all the more tragic by Tani’s devotion to his mother, Rose, who raised him and his siblings alone in suburban Chicago after their father died when he was 4.

No Related Post

« I Saw Doug Williams Throw Four Touchdowns In One Quarter In The Superbowl
links for 2007-12-21 »

One Response to “Seriously Sad NASA Story”

Colorado Dave says:

December 20, 2007 at 10:35 pm

Tani is a Flight Engineer on this mission. He first flew on STS-108 in 2001 and prior to the current ISS mission had spent 11 days in space.

It really is heartbreaking. To loose your mother in a traffic accident is bad enough but to have it happen while you are in orbit 200 miles above Earth with no way of returning must be very difficult.

Not much more to say really.