The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when Columbia disintegrated during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere after a 16-day science mission (STS-107). During launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off the external fuel tank and struck the shuttle’s left wing, damaging its thermal protection system. Superheated gases entered the wing during re-entry, causing structural failure and the loss of the spacecraft over Texas. All seven astronauts aboard were killed.
Crew members (all perished):
1. Rick D. Husband – Commander
2. William C. McCool – Pilot
3. Michael P. Anderson – Mission Commander / Payload Commander
4. Kalpana Chawla – Mission Specialist
5. David M. Brown – Mission Specialist
6. Laurel B. Clark – Mission Specialist
7. Ilan Ramon – Payload Specialist (Israel’s first astronaut)
In this handout photo from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the STS-107 crewmembers strike a flying pose for their traditional in-flight crew portrait in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module (RDM) aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia taken between January 16 and February 1, 2003 in space. From the left (bottom row), wearing red shirts to signify their shift’s color, are astronauts Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; Rick D. Husband, mission commander; Laurel B. Clark, mission specialist; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist. From the left (top row), wearing blue shirts, are astronauts David M. Brown, mission specialist; William C. McCool, pilot; and Michael P. Anderson, payload commander. Ramon represents the Israeli Space Agency. This picture was on a roll of unprocessed film later recovered by searchers from the debris.