Columbia Crew killed when the shuttle broke apart during re-entry
AMARILLO, TEXAS -- February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, killing all seven of its crew members, including Amarillo native Rick Husband.
The space shuttle broke apart over East Texas parts of the shuttle could even be seen flying across the sky here in the Panhandle. Witnesses as far away as California claimed they saw flashes of light and debris falling.
An extensive investigation found that a piece of foam punctured Columbia's left wing on take-off, exposing it to intense heat as it reentered Earth's atmosphere causing it to disintegrate. Debris from the disaster was spread across hundreds of miles.
The first ever Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, a former Israeli fighter jet pilot, was on board.
The 8-year anniversary of the Columbia disaster comes on the heels of the 25 year anniversary of the Challenger disaster. On January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds into the flight, the Challenger crew was killed, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
I remember I was working at another news station at the time when I saw the breaking news alert. I quickly got ready and went to work. We covered the story throughout the day. I just remember how crazy the news room was, and the sorrow I felt for the families who thought their loved ones were coming home only to have the shuttle break apart during re-entry. They were so close to home.
Anchor Jay Ricci said, "I remember I was teaching a class at my church, and found out about it with a phone call while I was there. I was called in to work, and we did news programs the rest of the day on the tragedy. It really hit home."
Assignment's Editor Lucas Jefferson, said he was working at the Big Texan at the time. "We had a big staff meeting that morning. After the meeting there was a group of people clustered around the bar, because that's where the only TV was in the restaurant. We all sat there and watched the news reports about it. I didn't know then that Rick Husband, an Amarillo native was on board. I started at KVII about a month later."
Do you remember where you were when the Columbia disaster happened? Did you see parts of the space shuttle fly across the sky as it broke apart? Leave your stories in the comment section.
The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia consisted of 7 astronauts:
- Rick D. Husband - Commander
- William C. McCool - Pilot
- Michael P. Anderson
- David M. Brown
- Kalpana Chawla
- Laurel Clark
- Ilan Ramon - first Israeli in space
