17-YEARS-AGO: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurs over Louisiana
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003 over Texas and Louisiana.
NEW ORLEANS, La. (WVUE) - It was 17-years-ago on Feb. 1, 2003 when the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred over the states of Texas and Louisiana.
The shuttle disintegrated upon re-entering the earth’s atmosphere leading to a widespread debris field that left pieces of the vehicle scattered across East Texas and West Louisiana. All seven astronauts on board died.
NASA later determined that a piece of the wing’s heat shield was cracked on the original liftoff days before. This was determined to be the main cause for the disaster upon re-entry as the earth’s hot atmospheric gases penetrated the wing causing the entire shuttle to break apart.
This was only the second fatal accident in the space shuttle program’s history. The other was the breakup of Challenger back in 1986.
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