Space Shuttle Columbia disaster — 2003 fatal incident in a United States space program
The Columbia disaster killed seven astronauts and led to sweeping safety reforms and a two-year suspension of Space Shuttle flights.
Key Facts
- Date of disintegration
- February 1, 2003
- Crew fatalities
- 7 astronauts
- Mission designation
- STS-107
- Columbia's flight number
- 28th flight for the orbiter
- Flight operations suspended
- More than two years
- Flights resumed
- July 2005, STS-114
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the STS-107 launch, a piece of insulating foam broke off the external tank and struck thermal protection tiles on Columbia's left wing. Engineers suspected the damage was serious, though concerns were not fully acted upon. Prior foam-shedding incidents had caused varying degrees of damage to previous orbiters, but none had resulted in catastrophic loss during re-entry.
On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated while re-entering Earth's atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana. Hot atmospheric gases penetrated the damaged heat shield on the left wing, destroying its internal structure and causing the orbiter to become unstable and break apart, killing all seven crew members aboard.
Space Shuttle flights were suspended for more than two years, and ISS construction was halted until STS-114 in July 2005. NASA introduced mandatory on-orbit thermal protection inspections, designated rescue mission protocols, and restricted subsequent flights primarily to the ISS. The three remaining orbiters were eventually retired after ISS construction was completed.
Discovery & Impact
Investigation revealed that foam-shedding from the external tank could catastrophically breach the orbiter's thermal protection system during re-entry.
Led to mandatory on-orbit inspections of thermal protection systems, rescue mission protocols, and major organizational reforms at NASA for all subsequent Shuttle missions.