Astronaut’s mom dies while he’s in space

tani1.jpgMan, I wonder how NASA broke the news.

LOMBARD, Ill. – The 90-year-old mother of a NASA astronaut aboard the international space station died Wednesday when a train struck her vehicle, police said.

A preliminary investigation showed that Rose Tani, the mother of astronaut Daniel M. Tani, stopped behind a school bus pausing at a train crossing, Raymond Byrne, police chief in this Chicago suburb, said in a statement. She drove around the bus, bypassing the lowered crossing gate, he said.

The train struck Tani’s vehicle on the passenger side and pushed it down the tracks before stopping. Paramedics took Tani to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“All indications are that the crossing gates and warning signals were functioning properly at the time of the accident,” Byrne said.

Daniel Tani, 46, has made several journeys into space. He was a flight engineer on the Space Shuttle Discovery when it took off on Oct. 23 and was scheduled to remain on the space station until Jan. 8.

Tani and another astronaut ventured out of the space station Tuesday to inspect two defective mechanisms hobbling power generation.

NASA officials did not immediately return a telephone message left after business hours Wednesday.

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Man searches world for birth mother, only to find they work in the same store

2004081187.jpgFor years, Steve Flaig, a delivery-truck driver at a Lowe’s store here, had searched for his birth mother.He found her working the cash register at the front of the store.

For several months, he and Christine Tallady had known each other casually as co-workers. Last Friday, they met for the first time as mother and son.

“I have a complete family now, all my kids,” said Tallady, who has two younger children. “It’s a perfect time of year. It’s the best Christmas present ever.”

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