Looking Back - Columbia Space Shuttle Tragedy

On this day in 2003, the US space shuttle Columbia broke up as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere killing all seven astronauts on board. Six of the seven astronauts were US citizens. They were Rick Husband,William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown and female astronauts Laurel Clark and Indian-born Kalpana Chawla. The seventh member, fighter pilot Colonel Ilan Ramon, was Israel's first astronaut. Columbia was just sixteen minutes away from landing at Cape Canaveral, Florida when it disintegrated. Debris from the shuttle was scattered across eastern Texas and western Louisiana, crashing into car parks, forests, backyards, a reservoir, a rooftop and a dentist's office. A piece of insulating foam from an external fuel tank was blamed for the tragic accident, it is thought it hit the shuttles left wing as it took off. The shuttle was famous for being the first reusable space vehicle. Columbia was the oldest of a fleet of four, having flown her maiden voyage in 1981. It was the first time in 42 years of American space flight there had been an accident on landing.
President George Bush announcing the tragedy to the nation said: "The Columbia is lost. There are no survivors." Sean O'Keefe Nasa's administrator said: "This is indeed a tragic day for the Nasa family, for the families of the astronauts and likewise, tragic for the nation.