Today marks the 15th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster where seven astronauts died when they were making their return from a 16 day mission. Columbia broke up in the skies over Texas, just minutes before a Florida touchdown.
Onboard were Rick D. Husband, Commander; William C. McCool, Pilot; Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander; David M. Brown, Mission Specialist; Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist; Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Mission Specialist and Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist.
An investigation found that tiles that had been damaged during lift-off allowed super-heated atmospheric gasses to penetrate the shuttle's wing during re-entry, causing the ship to become unstable and quickly disintegrate.
NASA honored the day with a special musical tribute in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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