How the Space Shuttle Columbia Tragedy Unfolded

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was reentering Earth's atmosphere after a two-week routine mission when it exploded, killing all seven astronauts aboard and scattering debris across multiple states. It was a horrific tragedy, particularly considering that the shuttle was on its 28th mission and had been a solid vehicle for space exploration and research since the 1980s. What happened to the space shuttle Columbia effectively ended NASA's shuttle program. In 2011, NASA's space shuttle fleet was officially retired.

#ShuttleColumbia #NASA #WeirdHistory

[araasis]

I feel like when it comes to literally sending human beings off the planet, a "shoestring budget" shouldn't even be an option. It needs to be our main focus or no focus at all. Easier said than done of course.

[NFLdom]

On that day, January 16, 2003,
I was on a winter getaway trip with my grandparents in Florida.
One day, instead of Disney world, we went onto the interstate for more sightseeing.
Everyone was pulled over on the side of the road. My grandfather asked a state trooper: “what’s going on?” The trooper replied that it was a shuttle launch. We ended up seeing the last flight into orbit of space shuttle Columbia.
R.I.P. to the crew
What a sad story

[bredenis]

I cannot even fathom how distressing it must’ve been to have to weigh the decision as to whether you should tell the crew or not that they will face imminent death.

[alaasaleh]

Till you said that a rescue mission could’ve been made, I was convinced they made the right decision not to tell them. At least it was quick. Suffocating slowly would’ve been torture.

[Az]

I lived in Dallas, north of what the trajectory is marked as being, and when it exploded, I honestly though someone had crashed a car into the house. It was loud and the house rumbled. I ran to the back expecting to see a car, but there was nothing. Then I thought maybe something exploded at DFW airport, as we lived just down the freeway from it. Lots of neighbors came outside wondering what the noise was. Once I turned on the news, I learned it was the shuttle. Most of north Texas heard and felt it. Broke my heart.

[scsutton]

I was in England and had just come home from school. They had it on the news and I just remember seeing it break apart live. I was 9 years old and I haven't forgotten it.

[xxDruwPxx]

I remember going to Cracker Barrel for my 9th birthday (February 1, 2003) and seeing this on the TV. Everybody just sat in awe and watched.

[crawlscreepy]

I was on the clean up crew for this accident and spent over 45 days picking up pieces of the shuttle across all 4 major camps across Texas.

[heysaladdaze]

So tragic, I remember when this happened. I think it was the first time I realised that the idea of space and space exploration wasn't as magical as it first seems.

[Fuzzy_Spork]

We lived in Florida directly below the shuttle landing path so it was always a treat to wait outside for the sonic boom and the flyover. On that day day it was less than a minute after we should have already heard the boom when I said to my husband that something is wrong and we need to turn on the news immediately. It shook us up. We'd actually met while working at Space Camp and we witnessed the Challenger explosion together.

[BrickTamlandOfficial]

I remember waking up that morning and being excited for the weekend and then noticing the crash was on every channel.

[kenxclout]

Rick Husband was from my hometown Amarillo Tx. The airport is named after him.

[cmdugan]

I was in an airplane flying to Disney World for the first time with my whole family to celebrate my Grandpa’s 70th birthday as it happened. The pilot made an announcement shortly before we landed. I remember seeing the replay on the TV in the lobby at the hotel. I was only 4 1/2 but I definitely remember the strange mix of emotions—sadness of the tragedy and the excitement of being at Disney.

[julianaylor]

The Shuttle should have been double checked in space, it was cruel that they let this happen and ignored it. Dismissing the foam issue was not only shortsighted, but almost criminal negligence.
I like to see more on accidents that happened during US attempts to get into space and to the Moon, these are often overlooked.
There is also the Russians tragic failures in their space program too.

[xmn]

Just hearing that mission control knew how bad the situation was, yet chose to do nothing made me so mad I almost stopped watching this video.

[grapeshot]

Yeah brought back memories of Challenger. R.I.P 🥀🥀🥀🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[jgrab]

It didn't EXPLODE. There was no combustion source. It broke apart. Huge difference.

[lillymom]

I loved watching the space shuttles take off and land. They were so beautiful. I especially loved how they rode piggyback on large airplanes. I witnessed live, as so many others, the disasters of Challenger and Columbia. But, I believe those crew were living their dreams. It broke my heart to see the program ended.

[Sammysamgemini]

How dare them not give all of these people a chance to say goodbye to whomever they needed to. That is just as much a tragedy is what happened! Really really bothers me

[jeremybarcelo]

My brother was living in Nacogdoches and attending SFA at the time. He recovered some debris, called someone, and had an entire crew over to check it out.