Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first spaceworthy space shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. Its first mission, STS-1, lasted from April 12th to April 14th, 1981. On Febuary 1,2003, Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas, on its 28th mission. All seven crew members aboard perished.
Space Shuttle Columbia flew 28 flights, spent 300.74-days in space, completed 4,808 orbits, and flew 125,204,911 miles in total, including its final mission. It is the only spaceworthy shuttle to have never visited either the Russian Space Station Mir or the International Space Station while those stations have been in operation.
On its final mission, Columbia carried a crew of seven astronauts. They were Rick Husband (commander), Willie McCool (pilot), Michael P. Anderson, Laurel B. Clark, and David M. Brown, Isreali astronaut Ilan Ramon, and Kalpana Chawla
On the morning of Febuary 1,2003, the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere after a 16-day scientific mission. NASA lost radio contact at about 0900 EST, only minutes before the expected 0916 landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Video recordings show the craft breaking up in flames over Texas, at an altitude of approximately 39 miles (63 km) and a speed of 12,500 mph (5.6 km/s).
NASA scientists determined that a hole was punctured in the leading edge on one of Columbia's wings, made of a carbon-carbon composite. The hole had formed when a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank peeled off during the launch 16 days earlier, puncturing the edge of the wing. Hot gases, inaccurately described in initial reports as plasma, penetrated the interior of the wing, destroying the support structure and causing the rest of the shuttle to break apart during the intense heat of re-entry.
Columbia launches on its final mission, STS-107
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Columbia
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