The Columbia could have stayed in orbit until February 15 and the already planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis could have been moved up as early as February 10, leaving a short window for repairing the wing or getting the crew off of the Columbia. In August 2003, an investigation board issued a report that revealed that it in fact would have been possible either for the Columbia crew to repair the damage to the wing or for the crew to be rescued from the shuttle. Strangely, worms that the crew had used in a study that were stored in a canister aboard the Columbia did survive. Making the tragedy even worse, two pilots aboard a search helicopter were killed in a crash while looking for debris. Debris and the remains of the crew were found in more than 2,000 locations across East Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Residents in the area heard a loud boom and saw streaks of smoke in the sky. the shuttle disintegrated over northeast Texas, near Dallas. When the space shuttle Columbia disaster occurred 15 years ago, the FBI was tasked with recovering the remains of the crew, stabilizing hazardous material, and securing classified equipment. One minute later, the last communication from the crew was heard, and at 9 a.m. The first debris began falling to the ground in west Texas near Lubbock at 8:58 a.m. Because the heat-resistant tiles covering the left wing’s leading edge had been damaged or were missing, wind and heat entered the wing and blew it apart. View webcast Speaking to the memory of the seven astronauts who. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later, at 8:53 a.m.–as the shuttle was 231,000 feet above the California coastline traveling at 23 times the speed of sound–that the first indications of trouble began. Speaking to the memory of the seven astronauts who lost their lives in Space Shuttle Columbia. READ MORE: Space Exploration: Timeline and TechnologiesĬolumbia reentered the earth’s atmosphere on the morning of February 1. The space shuttle Columbia, with a seven-member crew aboard, soars toward a nine-day mission devoted to life sciences research. Their concerns were not addressed in the two weeks that Columbia spent in orbit because NASA management believed that even if major damage had been caused, there was little that could be done to remedy the situation. Although similar incidents had occurred on three prior shuttle launches without causing critical damage, some engineers at the space agency believed that the damage to the wing could cause a catastrophic failure. Eighty seconds into the launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the shuttle’s propellant tank and hit the edge of the shuttle’s left wing.Ĭameras focused on the launch sequence revealed the foam collision but engineers could not pinpoint the location and extent of the damage. Columbia finally launched on January 16, 2003, with a crew of seven. The Columbia‘s 28th space mission, designated STS-107, was originally scheduled to launch on January 11, 2001, but was delayed numerous times for a variety of reasons over nearly two years. On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia breaks up while entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven crew members on board.

Space shuttle columbia disaster date