Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

LV couple who lost son in '03 disaster to watch from home

Barry and Audrey McCool, whose son William died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle explosion, said Sunday they will watch on television in their Las Vegas living room the planned launch Wednesday of the shuttle Discovery. Photo by Craig L. Moran. William "Willie" McCool Wore two wedding bands on the last day of his life, his own and his wife's

Audrey and Barry McCool expect they will travel to Florida some day and watch a space shuttle rocket into space.

But that day will not be Wednesday.

Instead, the Las Vegas couple, whose son William "Willie" McCool died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle explosion, will watch the launch of Discovery on television in their living room.

"I would just be too nervous watching it (in person)," Audrey McCool, a UNLV professor, said while finishing dinner Sunday evening. "It would be difficult to watch this one go up. If they can do this one (safely), I would be more willing to go at a later time. To me, it would be too traumatic to watch it. I think it will be easier to watch on TV."

Hours after the Columbia explosion, a grieving Audrey McCool urged the nation not to abandon its pioneering role in space. "We're very distressed, but we want the space missions to go on," she said.

On Sunday, the McCools said they have been invited to attend another space shuttle launch, slated for September, provided Wednesday's expedition goes smoothly.

"We as a family plan on being there," said Barry McCool, a retired Navy pilot and doctoral student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

William McCool's widow, Lani, plans to attend Wednesday's launch with the youngest of their three children.

In memory of her husband, Lani McCool has arranged for astronauts to take a ring on their shuttle flight.

He bought the ring, with the word "Hope" engraved on it, for her years ago, her in-laws said.

William McCool, 42, wore two wedding bands on the last day of his life: one his own, the other his wife's. Neither ring has been recovered.

"That's really a high risk," Barry McCool said, indicating that if the ring were somehow lost, Lani McCool would be without another memento.

"It's a very meaningful ring for her, so for her to give that up ..." Audrey McCool said. "The ring just kind of goes up there to be with Willie a bit."

The McCools smiled often on Sunday, thinking how their son's legacy has inspired so much good: from the William McCool Science Center planned for Lamping Elementary School in Henderson to a commemorative quilt sent from a stranger in New York.

"He died the happiest he ever was," said Audrey McCool, who sported a shirt depicting two kitty astronauts landing on the moon. "And you can't complain if you die doing exactly what you wanted to do, in the company of close friends. There are many worse ways to go."