On Thursday, Daniel Tani, the US astronaut that is part of the crew from the International Space Station, found out from NASA that his mother was killed in a car accident near Chicago.

The bad news were reported by the local media, which said that 90- year- old Rose Tani’s car was struck by a freight train in a railroad crossing in Lombard, Illinois, as she was trying to pass a bus that stopped at a crossing.

This is the first time an astronaut has experienced such a hard situation while being in space. Daniel Tani arrived at ISS in October with Space Shuttle Discovery and should have returned home at the beginning of this week aboard the shuttle Atlantis, but due to its delay until January 10, he has no other choice but grieve from more than 200 miles away from his late mother.

The astronaut was extremely tied to his mother, since she raised him and his siblings alone, as his father died four years after his birth.

Tani was informed by his wife and flight surgeon during a video conference, but unfortunately only e-mails and phone- calls are not enough to make him feel closer to his home.

Since NASA is prepared for all types of situations, the astronauts are being asked whether they want to know about family emergencies as they happen or later, in the case they are preparing for an important task, such as a spacewalk. As he wished to be informed immediately, the news was broke down to him as soon as possible, so that he could grieve with his family.

Even if NASA offered the astronaut some time off his normal duties, he refused and it has been reported that he is handling the news very good. Also, he will be able to participate to his mother funeral through a video conference or a phone- call connection.