The Columbia
STS-107 mission lifted off on January 16, 2003, for a 17-day science mission
featuring numerous microgravity experiments. Upon reentering the atmosphere
on February 1, 2003, the Columbia orbiter suffered a catastrophic
failure due to a breach that occurred during launch when falling foam
from the External Tank struck the Reinforced Carbon Carbon panels on the
underside of the left wing. The orbiter and its seven crewmembers (Rick
D. Husband, William C. McCool, David Brown, Laurel Blair Salton Clark,
Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, and Kalpana Chawla) were lost approximately
15 minutes before Columbia was scheduled to touch down at Kennedy
Space Center. This site presents information about the STS-107 flight,
as well as information related to the accident and subsequent investigation
by the formal Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
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