Page 6 • Monday, July 19, 1999
N
ATI ON
Thefli
Searching for Kennedy
At its height, the search for John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane ranged over
1,000 square miles. After debris was discovered, the search immediately
shifted and focused on an area south of Martha's Vineyard. Here’s a
look at some of the equipment and techniques involved in the operation.
LONG RANGE SEARCH
©When the location of the target
is unknown, parallel searches are
used. Two Coast Guard HH-60
helicopters and other aircraft
traced Kennedy’s entire route.
*■
SHORT RANGE SEARCH
© Localized searches are
executed by using floating debris
as their focal points. Both aircraft
and watercraft, such as RHIs
(Ridget Hull Inflatables) use
methodical Sector and Expanding
Square searches to comb the area.
*
Expanding square
NIGHTTIME SEARCH
Q Ships with sonar equipment are used
for nighttime searches. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
ship Rude uses a sophisticated sonar
device that can scan up to a 1,000-foot
wide section of the ocean floor.
Camelot’s sole survivor T
Caroline Kennedy remains private during family
NEW YORK (AP) — She was the lit
tle girl who walked her dad to the Oval
Office each morning and rode a pony
on the White House lawn. Grown up
now with a family of her own, Caroline
Kennedy appears to be the last survivor
of Camelot.
Yesterday, the day after her brother’s
plane went missing, Caroline Kennedy
stayed far from the media and far from
the rest of the Kennedy clan gathering
in Massachusetts.
Kennedy, husband Edwin Schloss-
berg and their children aged 12, 9 and
6 were waiting out the search at a
home they have in the Hamptons on
eastern Long Island, a summer play
ground for the rich and famous.
It was a characteristically discreet
way for a very private woman to han
dle her very public life.
Kennedy, who had been out West
rafting with her family before her
brother was reported missing, returned
to Long Island Saturday. She had not
planned to attend the wedding of Rory
Kennedy at Hyannis Port, Mass., but it
was not clear why.
JFK Jr., 38, was en route to the wed
ding when his plane disappeared. His
wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and
her sister, Lauren Bessette, were also
on board.
Caroline Kennedy, 41, was extreme
ly close to her brother. They were chil
dren together in the brief presidency
that came to be known as Camelot af
ter the legend of King Arthur, going on
6 and 3 when their father was assassi
nated in 1963.
Together, they endured the murder
of their uncle, Robert F. Kennedy, in
1968, and adjusted when their mother,
Jacqueline Kennedy, married Greek
shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis the
same year. They did well in private
schools in New York, avoided drugs
and scandals — and were kept far from
the rest of the Kennedy clan.
“Jackie had made it a strict rule not
to allow Caroline and John Jr. to frat
ernize with their Hickory Hill cousins,"
author Jerry Oppenheimer wrote in
The Other Mrs. Kennedy, his book
about Robert’s wife, Ethel. Robert and
Ethel Kennedy’s homestead in Virginia
was known as Hickory Hill.
Richard Burke, a former aide to an
other Kennedy brothers
M. Kennedy, D-Mass., s<
book that Caroline had
spent time there “but w
stuff going on out at Hicki
especially the problems the
having — Jackie just didn't
oline and John there
As adults, Caroline andJtl
joined forces, presenting an
preservationists in theirmotlvi
or, and launching another 1]
their father’s memory. They;f
auction house to sell oils
from their mother’s estate,
blocked someone else
some of their father’s
Now, as hopes fade for
brother alive, “There'sakir
of the lonely survivor” said
her, author of The Kennedy:
ican Drama.
When Caroline Kennedy
Schlossberg, a designer of mi
teriors and exhibits, herbroi
as best man, and gave this
my life there has just heenthe
us — Mommy, Caroline and!
Now, there is just the one
iroinl
diaries, |
Clinton offers prayers to far
Source: U.S. Coast Guard; AP research
AP
JFK
Continued from Page 1
If the beacon did come
from Kennedy’s plane, it
would be the first time
searchers have heard it.
An ELT can be triggered man
ually or automatically upon a
crash and emits signals that can
be detected by satellites and air
craft.
Earlier in the day, searchers
found little more than the frag
ment of a headrest and some in
sulation. Saturday’s search had
yielded a wheel, a headrest, part
of a plane support, a prescrip
tion bottle belonging to
Kennedy’s wife and a piece of
baggage belonging to his sister-
in-law.
The Kennedys stayed close to
the Hyannis Port compound that
has been the family’s gathering
point in so many times of tri
umph and tragedy. In the after
noon, Ethel Kennedy, the widow
of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and
other family members went
boating.
Kennedy’s sister, Caroline
Kennedy, whose whereabouts
had been unclear since the acci
dent, awaited word on New
York’s Long Island.
It was not known why she
did not attend the wedding or
join the family in Hyannis Port.
She and her family were said to
have just returned from a West
ern rafting trip.
Mary Medeiros, a family
baby sitter, said there were a lot
of tears inside the compound.
At Our Lady of Victory
Church near Hyannis Port,
where several Kennedys have
been married, the Rev. Stephen
Dawber told churchgoers to
pray for young Kennedy and his
passengers, “that God give them
peace and comfort.”
Columnist Rowland Evans, at
the compound for the wedding,
told CNN that on Saturday
morning, “It was going from a
little piece of heaven into the
shadowy depths. Everybody felt
the heavy weight, the burden of
real sorrow. ”
“Nobody had, I think, great
hopes even then,” he said.
Some experienced pilots said
a relatively new pilot like
Kennedy ma^ have been ill-ad
vised to fly Jt night, while oth
ers said it was routine.
A source who is friendly with
the Kennedy family told the As
sociated Press that Kennedy had
intended to fly earlier in the day,
but his sister-in-law, an invest
ment banker, had to work late.
Larrabee called yesterday’s
operation a “search and rescue”
but conceded that the normal
survival time in 68-degree wa
ters — about 12 hours — had
long passed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Saying the Kennedys “have suf
fered much and given more” as a family, a grim-faced Pres
ident Clinton offered the prayers of a nation yesterday as au
thorities scanned the ocean in hopes of finding the son of
the one president Clinton personally idolized.
Arriving at the White House from Camp David, Md.,
Clinton thanked the Coast Guard and other searchers who
are trolling the coast off Martha’s Vineyard, where wreck
age from a private plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his
wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren
Bessette began washing ashore on Saturday.
“At this difficult moment, we hope the families of these
three fine young people will feel the strength of God, the
love of their friends and the.prayers of their fellow citizens,”
Clinton said.
His words rang with personal loss. The Clintons have
spent time with the Kennedys during vacations on Martha’s
Vineyard, sharing boating excursions and dinners at a com
pound once owned by Kennedy’s late mother, Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis.
“For more than 40 years now, the Kennedy family has
inspired Americans to public service, strengthened our
faith in the future and moved our nation forward,” Clin
ton said. “Through it all, they have suffered much and
given more.”
He said Kennedy and his wife, who were married al
most three years ago, “have captured our imagination and
won our affection” in recent years. He said he would al
ways be grateful “for their kindnesses to Hillary and
Chelsea and me.”
Clinton stepped off his helicopter with his wife and
daughter. They locked hands and walked in unison across
the lawn, Hillary Clinton sandwiched in the middle. When
he finished speaking, Clinton swallowed hard and disap
peared into the White House.
The president spoke just a few feet away from the Rose
Garden where, as a teen-ager, he met President Kennedy on
July 24, 1963.
Back then, Clinton was one among several attending
/Boys Nation. When he graduated high school, young Clin
ton scribbled his name below a photograph of himself and
Kennedy in the yearbooks of his friends.
Clinton is unabashed in his admiration of Kennedy, and
weaves Kennedy influences into his policies and actions in a va
riety of ways. For example, when Clinton journeyed to Africa
last year, he made Ghana his first stop because it w; New A&
nation where Kennedy’s Peace Corps lx Ain n;v Brian C
He once said Kennedy’s emphasis on piM® Mo
“taught me to believe in America. ... He made it-*1
and noble and good. The best we can doistokeep
burning.”
According to David Maraniss’ 1995 biography,?:
Class, Clinton wrote a letter to his mother whilestj
Georgetown, telling her that a friend whohadw|
Kennedy, Tommy Caplan, was preparing to spen
an especially precocious toddler.
“At this difficult moment, we
hope the families of these three
fine young people will feel the
strength of God, the love of their
friends and the prayers of their
fellow citizens."
‘John Kennedy Jr. is supposed to visit himatl
town sometime this year,” Clinton wrote. ‘‘Hei$(sB ce j n
E key
1998 a record low
for violent crime
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans were victims
of about 8.1 million violent crimes last year, a 7 per
cent drop from 1997 and the lowest number report
ed since the Justice Department began tracking the
figure in 1973.
A report released yesterday called the one-year
drop “marginally significant,” driven by a small but
significant decline in aggravated assault rates.
“From 1997 to 1998, no significant changes in
rates of rape or sexual assault, robbery or simple
assault occurred,” this year’s National Crime Vic
timization Survey said. There were slight declines
in robbery and simple assault, but rape and sexu
al assault actually rose slightly from 311,000 in
1997 to 333,000 in 1998. Rape and sexual assault
were the only two crimes to show an increase dur
ing the period.
The general 1998 decline continued a downward
trend that began in 1994, the survey said.
Attorney General Janet Reno said there is no one
reason for the drop. But she gave Clinton adminis
tration policies credit for combining the effects of
several strategies.
“It’s because of more police officers on the
streets, tougher sentences, more prosecutions, bet
ter prevention programs, a healthy economy and a
new approach to crime fighting that involves a clos
er working relationship between communities and
federal, state and local law enforcement,” Reno said.
Republicans said they are relieved over the de
cline but warn that crime rates remain unacceptably
high. They also have pointed to passage of anti
crime legislation since the GOP took majority con
trol of Congress in 1995.
NASA prepares
for launch of
X-ray telescope
Looking into the unseen universe
The largest and most powerful X-ray telescope ever to be launched will leave aboard the space shuttleCok
July 20. Chandra, a Hubble-caliber observatory is meant to detect faint sources of cosmic X-rays, suck*
quasars, exploded stars and possibly black holes. Here’s a look at the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
HOW IT WORKS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The world’s hefti
est, mightiest, priciest X-ray telescope is about to em
bark on a five-year voyage to stare deep into the hearts
of galaxies and search for signs of black holes.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory, a 4 1/2-story colos
sus stuffed into space shuttle Columbia and due to lift
off tomorrow, is 10 to 100 times more powerful than any
of the dozen or so X-ray telescopes previously placed in
orbit.
If words glimmered in X-rays, Chandra could read a
newspaper from a half-mile away or make out the let
ters of a stop sign from 12 miles away.
“We can make Superman jealous, I guess, with our
X-ray vision,” NASA manager Ken Ledbetter said.
The astronauts, led by NASA’s first female space shut
tle commander, Eileen Collins, will release Chandra with
the flick of a switch seven hours after launch. It will be
another month before the telescope’s eagerly awaited
observations begin.
X-rays are produced by quasars, galaxies and rem
nants of exploded stars but are invisible to ground-based
telescopes.
They would go right through flat mirrors, like those
used to focus light on the Hubble Space Telescope, or
the lenses used in many smaller telescopes, so Chandra
uses conical mirrors. X-rays will glance off the sloping
glass at a shallow angle like pebbles skipping across a
pond.
“This is an age that we live in where superlatives are
used in everything from sports to politics, probably a lit
tle bit too much,” said Martin Weisskopf, a NASA sci-
1 With the sunshade
door open, X-rays
enter the high X-r£
resolution mirror
assembly.
Sunshade door
years old, but this boy says he is a really smart 1(
like his daddy.” Linteiv'
As an adult, the younger Kennedy found hisw# p e
the White House — on Clinton’s invitation. |j . n
When Clinton announced the first woman to
a U.S. space shuttle mission, Kennedy was there,r|j eer - U]
dience. He brought along his wife in February 13 ' s i ()W|
Clinton played host to a state dinner for BritishPir* p at]
ister Tony Blair. .® m p 1
Kennedy bowed as he greeted Hillary RodtalL^ a
and Cherie Blair, while Bessette removed herloi'Sf| ra( j u
gloves before shaking Clinton’s hand. H eace
In Los Angeles, Vice President Al Gorecancdef| a l ] s v
day brunch that was to raise funds for his t0
campaign. He attended Mass at the Sacred Heart® « ( - l
and told reporters afterward his prayers were 1 enc j m
Kennedy family. B s to
“Above all, we are reminded of the sacrifice
Kennedy family, and how precious and fragile life is," a j, r j cu
Bho s
■uired
§ons e
defii
The
r as es
ie pe
tates
Egical
Jn the
Itun
i,000 i
Aspect camera
stray light shade
High resolution
mirror assembly
2 Four sets of cylindrical mirrors
within the assembly reflect the
X-rays through...
I- .transmission gratings. This makes images
sharper before they reach the high resolution
camera and the CCD imaging spectrometer*.
CCD imaging
spectrometer
‘Camera that also detects X-ray's energy.
Source: NASA
4 Data from the telescope is sent to EartW
analyzed by scientists.
entist who has been working on the project for two
decades. “But I can’t help but use those superlatives
with this observatory. They are really well based.”
The telescope, built by TRW Inc., cost $1.5 billion to
develop. Throw in the shuttle ride and five years of or
bital operations, and the price jumps to $2.8 billion,
making it one of NASA’s most expensive science pro
jects ever.
Chandra — named for the late astrophysicist who
won a Nobel Prize — is the third of NASA’s four so-
■ Tex^
justice
(peak
nd the
lis e\
‘ v Oakwo
called Great Observatories. The first wasHitfl Station
second was the Compton Gamma Ray 0/ Ruth a
launched in 1991. Blilleni
With Chandra’s help, astronomershop<E Ton:
how much so-called dark matter is out/ hire is
where it is and more about the matters/i Holt, a
black holes and the high-energy jets ofraa/ part of
ing away from them. They also hope to m by the
dilate the distance to celestial objects,use'-f Co U nci
timating the size and age of the universe. :