Remembering: The Columbia

NASA's first shuttle, the Columbia began trips to space on April 12, 1981. Columbia had been scheduled to take it's twenty-eighth flight on January 11, 2001, but it was delayed.

After twenty-eight delays, and two years, Columbia finally made it's take off on January 16, 2003. During take off a piece of thermal insulation foam broke off and struck the left wing of the shuttle.

On the ground, NASA was aware that damage may have occurred, but decided not to tell the astronauts for two reasons. They felt that any damage wouldn't actually be significant enough, and if it was why stress the astronauts with it as nothing could be done.

On February 1, 2003 Columbia began reentry. As people watched her come in from over the Pacific, they were horrified to see pieces start to come off. Within seven minutes Columbia had been ripped apart, leaving a debris field over Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

What mission control, and the crew of the Columbia, hadn't known, was that the impact had a put a hole through the heat shield. As Columbia heated up, during reentry, the heat tore through the inside of the ship, breaking her into pieces.

On board the Columbia had been Commander Rick D. Husband, forty-five; Pilot William C. McCool, forty-one; Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, forty-three; Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, forty-eight; Mission Specialist Kalpana Chalwa, forty-one; Mission Specialist David M. Brown, forty-six; Mission Specialist Laurel Blair Salton Clark, forty-one.