STS-107

Rick Husband

• Birthday: 07/12/1957
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 05/27/1999
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

Rick Douglas Husband (July 12, 1957 – February 1, 2003) (Colonel, USAF) was an American astronaut and fighter pilot. He tra...

William C. McCool

• Birthday: 09/23/1961
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/16/2003
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

William Cameron "Willie" McCool was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and N...

David M. Brown

• Birthday: 04/16/1956
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/16/2003
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

David McDowell Brown was a United States Navy captain and a NASA astronaut. He died on his first spaceflight, when the Space ...

Ilan Ramon

• Birthday: 06/20/1954
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: Israel
• First Flight: 01/16/2003
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

Ilan Ramon (born June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut for N...

Laurel Clark

• Birthday: 03/10/1961
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/16/2003
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

Laurel Blair Salton Clark was an American medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle missio...

Kalpana Chawla

• Birthday: 03/17/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/19/1997
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

Kalpana Chawla was an American astronaut and the first female of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttl...

Michael P. Anderson

• Birthday: 12/28/1959
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/23/1998
• Last Flight: 01/16/2003

Michael Phillip Anderson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Anderson and his six fellow crew members w...

Mission

STS-107

• Type: Human Exploration
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the disastrous final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003, and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds in orbit conducted a multitude of international scientific experiments.

The seven members of the crew were killed on February 1 when Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the atmosphere. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board determined the failure was caused by a piece of foam that broke off during launch and damaged the thermal protection system (reinforced carbon-carbon panels and thermal protection tiles) on the leading edge of the orbiter's Left wing. During re-entry the damaged wing slowly overheated and came apart, eventually leading to loss of control and disintegration of the vehicle.

Location

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 210 rockets, including 209 orbital launch attempts. While Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 268 rocket launches.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

Rocket

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Learn more about the Space Shuttle

Agency

United Space Alliance

United Space Alliance (USA) is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.