March 29, 2024

On This Day in Space! Feb. 1, 2003: Space shuttle Columbia disaster

Columbias STS-107 crew included: Rick Husband, leader; Michael Anderson, payload commander; David Brown, objective expert; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Laurel Clark, objective professional; William McCool, pilot; and Ilan Ramon, payload professional from the Israeli Space Agency.In Their Own Words: Remembering Columbias STS-107 CrewColumbia Space Shuttle Disaster ExplainedThis image of the STS-107 shuttle bus Columbia team in orbit was recovered from wreckage inside an undeveloped film cylinder. (Image credit: NASA/JSC) This was the second deadly accident of the area shuttle program following the Challenger catastrophe in 1986, and NASA suspended area shuttle flights for more than 2 years as it investigated the disaster. That piece of foam hit the shuttle buss left wing and harmed the heat guard, which eventually led to the spacecrafts destruction.NASA resumed space shuttle bus flights in 2005, with new safety procedures in place to prevent the type of external tank foam loss that doomed Columbia.