Thursday marks 15 years since space shuttle Columbia tragedy

7 astronauts killed during re-entry

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Thursday marks 15 years since the space shuttle Columbia tragedy that killed seven astronauts.

The shuttle broke apart over Texas during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003. 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.

It was later determined foam from the external fuel tank hit the shuttle's wing during liftoff, leaving a large hole. The disaster led to major safety changes for the space shuttle program.

NASA honored the astronauts killed in the tragedy last Thursday during NASA's Day of Remembrance at Kennedy Space Center.

Fifteen years ago I received this chilling message on my pager...

Posted by Mike DeForest - News 6 on Thursday, February 1, 2018

Watch News 6 for updates.


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