On February 1, 2003, “Columbia” broke up during re-entry into the atmosphere during its 28th mission. All seven crew members died.
In the 42-year history of the US space program, this was the first case of a landing disaster. In late January 1986, the "Challenger" shuttle, also with seven people on board, exploded during takeoff.
The shuttle broke up over central Texas while attempting to land at the "Kennedy" Space Center in Florida.
On board the “Columbia” there are seven astronauts who die: David Brown, William McQuell, Eileen Ramon, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla and Michael Anderson. The “Kennedy” Space Center in Florida loses contact with “Columbia” shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. At that moment, the shuttle is somewhere north of Texas and is traveling at 29,000 km/h.
The first space shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet is “Columbia”’. Its first mission lasted from April 12 to 14, 1981. “Columbia” made a total of 28 flights.