Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
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 Final launch of Columbia | |||||||||||||||
| Date | February 1, 2003 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | 08:59 EST (13:59 UTC) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Over Texas and Louisiana | ||||||||||||||
| Cause | Wing damage from debris | ||||||||||||||
| Outcome | Shuttles grounded for 29 months | ||||||||||||||
| Deaths |
| ||||||||||||||
| Inquiries | Columbia Investigation Board | ||||||||||||||
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred when Space Shuttle Columbia broke up when it was reentering the atmosphere on February 1, 2003. The cause of the disaster was that a piece of foam broke from the external fuel tank. This made a hole in the shuttle's wing. During its entry, hot gases entered the wing, causing it to break up. All of the people on board died when it broke up.
Parts of Columbia were found across the state of Texas. The cockpit window is now inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis Pavilion at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Crew[change | change source]
- Commander: Rick D. Husband, a U.S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer
- Pilot: William C. McCool, a U.S. Navy commander
- Payload Commander: Michael P. Anderson, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and physicist
- Payload Specialist: Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force
- Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-born aerospace engineer
- Mission Specialist: David M. Brown, a U.S. Navy captain and surgeon
- Mission Specialist: Laurel Blair Salton Clark, a U.S. Navy captain and surgeon
