Feb. 1, 2003: Space shuttle Columbia disaster

ON THIS DAY: The space shuttle Columbia broke apart while returning to Earth, killing the seven astronauts on board.
An investigation would later determine that tiles 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. The crew was not told about any risk and didn't know something was wrong until very late in re-entry.
"In the words of a flight director at NASA: It has been a bad day," ABC News' Peter Jennings said during a Feb. 1, 2003 broadcast reporting on the devastating incident.
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#space #columbia #shuttle #news #abcnews #archive

[@heroknaderi]

Can’t believe it’s 21 years since this happened. RIP all seven souls

[@chedylady3752]

I was 22 (42 now). Time flies. Rip

[@Brendon_John_Harrison]

& Peter Jennings

[@lauren578]

It certainly does❤

[@rickypazienza]

Me too

[@shawnwhite3662]

I was 13, 33 now

[@SamM-gl9zc]

Same. And same😂 1981 was a good year to be born.

[@NuraCaicedo-xh2ok]

I just got really emotional when I heard Peter Jennings voice, He's my favorite news anchor but he passed away a long time ago he had lung cancer, and you just made me emotional cry I miss him😢😢😢❤🌎🙏🤲

[@str8winkap190]

Miss him to not a episode missed after school each week

[@CM-ho5ic]

I miss him & Frank Reynolds 😢

[@angelamorrow8973]

He came to my small town in Tenn to be our grand marshal in our tiny Teapot Parade. The town is Trenton, TN. We are “known” for two things. Our 31 mph speed limit and our collection of antique teapots. They were collected from around the world by Dr Frederick Freed. It’s because of him Jennings came to Trenton. His wife Kayce was related to Dr Freed. The only other big celebrity to marshal that parade was Steve Winwood. That’s because his wife is from Trenton.

[@nascarfan2477]

As an 11 year old I remember was at my dads work listening to the radio in his truck..there was breaking news in Spanish and I told my dad what are they saying, he was like there’s been a disaster . We get home and it’s all over the tv. Rest in peace Columbia crew Rest in peace Peter Jennings

[@jennymarie2603]

Still remember watching the television when this happened. I was little but watched it and was like omg they died and my siblings were like telling me as it was happening. Also I miss how reporting was back then. Solid facts. Objective reporting. No speculation. Bring this type of journalism back!!!!!

[@RyansColoradoRailProductions]

This happened 11 days before I was born. I learned a lot about it in space camp when I was little, and the instructors noticed the close proximity between the date of the disaster and my date of birth.

[@SlimMichaelSpaghetti]

You jinxed it

[@festina_lente7655]

You're the main character

[@christianjohnson9190]

This also happened near my birthday, I was 6 days before turning 2 years old when this happened

[@robz7789]

Peter Jennings was a master at his craft!

[@northeasternlaw]

I miss you Peter Jennings!

[@rollzolo]

He liked his smokes😢

[@antoniodiego9357]

I remember that day vividly. I had just joined the ARMY RESERVE, and it was during my first drill weekend when we got the news

[@stormjacobs5497]

Sad sad day I remember it clearly. Tragic for all, especially the families of the crew.🙏 I also remember Peter Jennings voice so well. I miss hearing his voice and seeing him every evening🫶.

[@exaura6070]

I was only 12 years old when this happened.

[@donaldcase491]

That was truly a sad day for NASA. R.I.P. Columbia!

[@Brendon_John_Harrison]

& Peter Jennings

[@GigaHellblaze]

I saw Challenger go when I was in kindergarten that was 38 years ago on national tv in class saw it blow up, then Columbia being in balls of fire on national tv 3 years after 9/11 that was 20 years ago the debris was all over Texas. Only 4 shuttles remain and they're retired in a museum or space center. I can't forget Challenger since that was a horrible experience for me when I was little but I'll never forget Regan's quote on space travel, and he's right, there will be more missions to space it won't stop. "We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue." -Regan on Challenger disaster

[@kevinmorris3200]

Actually the Columbia disaster happened 1 year and a half after 9/11

[@jamesbrady5583]

A few months earlier we were on a tour bus at the Kennedy Space Center and they had just rolled the Columbia into the assembly building and the doors were still open got a final peep at it as the bus passed. It's a really huge building.

[@noeljethroarmilla669]

Columbia was at 1600 MILES PER HOUR when it happened.

[@elainelise]

I live in Dallas, TX. I heard and felt the explosion. Didn’t learn for several hours what had happened. There were signs over the highways saying not to touch shuttle debris if you found some. Devastating.

[@tattedteflon]

Facts! I was in Irving at the gas station and felt it

[@TempeSoldier123]

@@tattedteflonwhet did it feel like?

[@gamemasterultima]

You know everyone was like “really.”

[@Redd-zw4rx]

R.i.p to all seven astronauts 😢😭

[@myrtlemoore7611]

God bless the rest in peace

[@Adeoca2]

I was 14 years old when it happened. Now, I’m 35 years old.

[@Peter-jx3ie]

@Adeoca. Way before my time. I'm just getting into this topic and love learning. Some of these stories are awful tragedies.

[@telengardforever7783]

It was a rough time to be in college during the early 2000's: 1) The Dot-Com bust, 2) 9/11, and 3) The Columbia Disaster. All happening barely a year apart from each other.

[@1f5sda]

Weirdly enough, this happened on my 12th birthday.

[@Brendon_John_Harrison]

In memory of the Victims & Peter Jennings

[@user-hr6vk6jg1t]

Pray for the families and their struggles of the loss of loved ones.

[@NickyWicky-pm3xu]

wow!

[@ericlove5179]

Wow. I was almost a month past 18 when this happened

[@emiliobello2538]

In memory of the victims

[@NuraCaicedo-xh2ok]

😢❤

[@Brendon_John_Harrison]

& Peter Jennings

[@porschechilds6094]

I feel bad for them😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@tmdafam9268]

That is so 😔 😢

[@tmdafam9268]

So sad

[@borntoclimb7116]

I remember this from the news

[@PradyumnaGarnayak-vx8zl]

Knowledge wise just thinking how return it and advance...

[@MegaDorian81]

They had 13 days to either find the damage, and yet mission control ignored the warning. 😢

[@tomtagliente1464]

They did not ignore the warning. They told the crew of the foam strike. They didn't go to the space station and didn't have a way to get that high to reach it. Either know your facts, or don't comment.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

They couldn't get to the space station and there wasn't another shuttle ready to launch and rescue them. They couldn't bail out over Texas because of the height and speed they were going. It was a hopeless situation.

[@southpaw17fl16]

I looked up knowing she was coming in, walking to my car from high school baseball practice, looked up, said that's not good, called my mother who worked for NASA, she said it's not good I have to go to the Cape

[@petersonowen6550]

R.I.P YOU ARE HEROS

[@user-kb8tv4pp7s]

Why would they put foam on a plane that flies at mach 25?

[@bukakkesteakhouse2077]

Do you know anything about space travel?

[@SymphonyBrahms]

The foam was on the fuel tank to protect the shuttle at launching. When the shuttle got to the upper atmosphere, the fuel tank was jettisoned. The foam was not on the shuttle itself.

[@tigerlily48]

one mistake and they lost their lives...poor astronauts

[@CAMPFelicity]

I was born on this day.

[@PaulEli_YT]

it is the 21st anniversary of Columbia

[@winterhaydn]

Just wait 'til SpaceX tries manned missions (hopefully they never get the chance). Things will be much worse.

[@KuroiRenge]

...Why? Because they have more money, more resources, and have documented cases of disasters a d years of new data to learn from? That's such a stupid thing to expect.

[@winterhaydn]

@@KuroiRenge - NASA actually had the foresight to plan things out with multiple, multiple contingencies built in (Columbia was obviously 1 rare contrary example. And a very terrible one). If even the smallest part failed while in space, there was always a workaround. SpaceX hasn't even *started* planning out the details of Starship's workings (likely to cause big issues in the future), they have history of fail-as-you-go mentality, they don't bother planning contingencies at all (just imagine the life support systems failing), and even their CGIs are fraught with obvious mistakes. And it's run by the guy who let's level 2 autonomy cars kill people as guinea pigs. + Put workers' safety in danger. He literally pushes risky scenarios to get his way. ...Also, anyone with common sense would know enough to start out with an actually working ship (which there are many such models) and build in increments. "Genius" Musk does it backwards and runs disaster after disaster. Something that would've gotten NASA shutdown already.

[@jcminvestments9078]

They supposed to do a view around preflight inspection before they return to land, this was the whole team fault to safe their own life… what a big mistake.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

The crew couldn't see the damaged area on the wing from the cabin. There was no camera there. And they didn't have the equipment to do a space walk. And they were told by NASA that there was no chance of real damage from the foam strike. Blame NASA, not the crew.

[@karmadontleaveanyone6896]

Kalpana chawla 😢

[@chillinbored]

Nasa really dropped the ball, yet again.

[@JimMac23]

There were 133 successful shuttle flights, and 2 that sadly fell apart. That's a pretty good record.

[@CharlieLopez-nu7je]

2003-2023😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@rickyli5455]

I was fixated on differentiating bodies from the hull 😢

[@user-fx3mu1do8w]

😢😢

[@telengardforever7783]

If they only inspected the wing... they could have asked Russia to send rescue and just abandoned the Columbia.

[@JimMac23]

Russia may not have had a spaceship ready to send. NASA didn't have a spaceship ready either.

[@hm-ys4ym]

Really? They didn't learn any thing from the first shuttle disaster

[@SuperRip7]

Travel by rocket is always dangerous.

[@Peter-jx3ie]

Of course they learn from past errors but this was very different to Challenger and there was very little they could do.

[@hm-ys4ym]

The passenger compartment should be indestructible , no ifs and or buts

[@cardboard9124]

@@hm-ys4ym you cant make things indestructible, thats impossible

[@hm-ys4ym]

@@cardboard9124 nothing's impossible

[@user-oc6gr7hs7x]

I was doing black ops missions over Iran when this happened.

[@jasonmeisch5140]

same

[@80sbeginner]

25.4.2024 Journey - Send Her My Love (my cover version) *_It's been so long_* 🤔 *_Since I've seen their face_* 👨🏻👨🏻👩🏻👩🏽👨🏾👨🏻👨🏻 *_Who said they're doin' fine_* 🫤 *_I still recall_* 😑 *_A sad live-play_* 😢 *_How it hurt so bad to see all cry_* 😭 *_They didn't want to say good-bye..._* 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈 *_Space ain't above_* 🌎🟰💩 *_shame glories remain_* 🤮 *_Space ain't above_* 🌍🟰💩 *_posers never fade_* 🧑🏻‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀👩🏻‍🚀👩🏽‍🚀👨🏾‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀 *_Space ain't above_* 🌏🟰💩 *_The same old tale, the same old boom_* 💥 *_I'm on the mode again_* ✍ *_They needed so much more_* 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑 *_Than truth could give_* 👎 *_They knew our gov 'could not' pretend_* 🥸 *_Rotten hearts can always spend..._* 💵 *_Space ain't above_* 🌎🟰💩 *_shame glories remain_* 🤮 *_Space ain't above_* 🌍🟰💩 *_posers never fade_* 🧑🏻‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀👩🏻‍🚀👩🏽‍🚀👨🏾‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀 *_Space ain't above_* 🌏🟰💩 *_Cancel out their fame I'm screamin'_* 😡 *_Infections of fake space I'm healin'_* 👨‍🏫 *_It's their choice_* 😞 *_That keeps on hurting me_* 😒 *_Space ain't, space ain't above_* 🌐🟰💩 *_Posers never fade_* 🧑🏻‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀👩🏻‍🚀👩🏽‍🚀👨🏾‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀🧑🏻‍🚀 *_Shame glories remain_* 🤮 *_Space ain't, space ain't above_* 🌐🟰💩

[@tomcolwell6182]

Gw's fault

[@summit2117]

Should have never happened...

[@Clappedcheeks-sx6gq]

Damn I was 2 days old somewhere in Russia now I’m in Cali huh

[@finn_loveU]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🌏🌌

[@CollegeBoyDeon]

And yall want me to believe that they made it to the moon 37 years prior to this with way worse technology?

[@JimMac23]

Yes, they did make it to the moon. It wasn't the technology. There was no accident on the moon landing. The Columbia was damaged badly upon takeoff when a foam panel struck one of the wings. The resulting hole let in the super heat upon descent. Big difference.

[@vanessasamson2229]

I cannot believe they died during the disasters. RIP all seven astronouts