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December 2, 2008 11:30:17 AM CST

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In Space, a Son Mourns His Mother

Posted Dec 20, 07 7:40 AM CST in US 

(Newser) – Astronaut Daniel Tani, orbiting 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station, learned yesterday that his 90-year-old mother, Rose, had been killed when her car was struck by a freight train outside Chicago, reports the Chicago Tribune. Police said she drove around a school bus stopped at the tracks, past a lowered gate, and into the path of the train.

Tani, the youngest of four siblings, was raised by his widowed mother and the two were “incredibly close,” the family's longtime pastor said. Tani's ISS mission began Oct. 23; he was originally scheduled to return to Earth today, but glitches with shuttle Atlantis pushed back a landing until late January. A rescue capsule attached to the ISS can only be used in emergencies. A NASA spokesman said Tani “feels relatively powerless."

Source Chicago Tribune

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In this image from NASA TV, international space station flight engineer Daniel Tani is seen during a space walk while wiring the Harmony compartment, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/NASA TV)   (Associated Press)
This photo released by NASA shows astronaut Daniel M. Tani as he prepares to use the galley on the middeck of Space Shuttle Discovery on Oct. 24, 2007. Rose Tani, the 90-year-old mother of Daniel Tani...   (Associated Press)
In this frame grab taken Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007, from AP Television, the car driven by Rose Tani, 90, is seen after being struck by a freight train earlier in the day in Lombard, Ill., killing Tani....   (Associated Press)
Shuttle Discovery Astronaut Daniel Tani.   (Getty Images)
In this image made available by NASA, astronauts Daniel Tani,bottom, Expedition 16 flight engineer; Stephanie Wilson and Doug Wheelock, center, both STS-120 mission specialists; and cosmonaut Yuri I....   (Associated Press)
Astronaut Daniel Tani has his helmet adjusted at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007.(AP Photo/NASA,HO)   (Associated Press)
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