On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia began its descent back to earth. As the shuttle raced over the Pacific towards the United States, the shuttle broke apart while reentering the Earth's atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana. | The Times of India

On February 1, 2003 the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere. The disaster occurred just sixteen minutes before the scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center. All seven crew members including Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark were killed instantly when the orbiter broke apart at eighteen times the speed of sound. The catastrophe was caused by a piece of insulating foam that broke off the external tank during launch sixteen d

The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded 40 years ago, on January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who would have been the first civilian in space. “The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives,” President Regan said in an address to the nation that night. “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them,

On January 28th, 1986 the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded and broke apart on take off. This week, Destruction Decoded explores the top 10 most dramatic space accidents, from Baikonur to Cape Canaveral. Watch Destruction Decoded on Wednesdays at 8pm, on National Geographic UK. | National Geographic UK