Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Sign in to saveOn February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second of two Space Shuttle missions to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986.
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Key facts
- Date
- February 1, 2003 ; 23 years ago ( 2003-02-01 )
- Time
- 8:59 am EST (13:59 UTC )
- Location
- Over Texas and Louisiana
- Cause
- Damage to the left wing's leading edge by debris from the external tank during launch
- Outcome
- Loss of Columbia and seven astronauts; Space Shuttle fleet grounded for 29 months and subsequently retired after completion of the International Space Station .
- Deaths
- Rick Husband , commander William C. McCool , pilot Michael P. Anderson , mission specialist Kalpana Chawla , mission specialist David M. Brown , mission specialist Laurel Clark , mission specialist Ilan Ramon , payload specialist
- Inquiries
- Columbia Accident Investigation Board
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- aviation accident
- Part of
- STS-107
- Country
- United States
- Location
- Texas
- Image
- Close-up STS-107 Launch - GPN-2003-00080.jpg
- Number of deaths
- 7
Show 6 more facts
- Commons category
- Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
- point in time
- 2003-02-01
- topic's main category
- Category:Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
- Commons gallery
- STS-107
- different from
- Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
- start point
- Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second of two Space Shuttle missions to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986.
The mission, designated STS-107, was the twenty-eighth flight for the orbiter and the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle fleet. It was dedicated to research in various fields, mainly on board the SpaceHab module inside the shuttle's payload bay.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Space Shuttle Columbia disaster” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.