The crew of STS-107. Seated in front are astronauts Rick D. Husband (left), mission commander; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; and William C. McCool, pilot. Standing are (from the left) astronauts David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark, and Michael P. Anderson, all mission specialists; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist representing the Israeli Space Agency. Image: NASA.
On this date in 2003, Space Shuttle Flight STS-107 (Columbia) disintegrated over Texas during re-entry. At an altitude of 63.15 km and a speed of Mach 18, all seven astronauts aboard were lost. NASA suspended space shuttle flights for more than two years as it investigated the disaster.
