Space Shuttle Columbia, 24 years before tragedy, arrived at Kennedy Space Center needing lots of work

PHIL COALE, Associated Press

Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, left, shows a colleague a specialty license plate remembering the space shuttle Challenger, during a House session on April 1, 2003, in Tallahassee. A bill being proposed at the time would add the the space shuttle Columbia to the commemorative plate.

HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images

A police officer takes pictures of what is reportedly the nose of the Space Shuttle Columbia near Hemphill, Texas on Feb. 3, 2003. Authorities continued to search for debris in a a large area which included Texas and Louisiana, while investigators poured over hundreds of flight data transmissions, sent from the shuttle, to try to reconstruct exactly what went wrong moments before the shuttle fell apart two days prior. At the time, the brunt of the investigation focused on heat shield failure.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Members of the Columbia reconstruction team continue to search for clues among the debris that has been recovered. Technicians are holding a piece of the left wing of Columbia. The debris is located in a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center.

BRAD LOPER, Associated Press

A crowd member wipes tears from his eyes during an evening memorial service for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 5, 2003, at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. The hour-long service featured music and speakers from around the East Texas area.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Astronaut and payload commander Michael P. Anderson, STS-107, prepares the Bicycle Ergometer for the Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System experiment in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on Jan. 24, 2003.

JESSICA MANN, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Ben Zerfas, of Elgin, IL, looks back at his chute before take off. The saturated ground made the chute wet, and they had difficulty taking off. Deputy Boris Caldwell of the Nacogdoches Sheriff's department holds a video camera behind Zerfas to document the flight. Destiny Powered Parachutes continued their search out of Nacogdoches from tree-top level for debris and remains on Feb. 10, 2003.

TONY GUTIERREZ, Associated Press

A view of Space Shuttle Columbia debris that was being cataloged on Feb. 10, 2003, at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Debris collected since the Feb.1 accident had been brought to the base as part of the investigation into the spacecraft's breakup.

MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images

People look at a what is believed to be a piece of the US shuttle Columbia that came down in a field near the town of Palestine in Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.

NASA, REUTERS

The Space Shuttle Columbia rests on Rogers Dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base after landing to complete its first orbital mission (STS-1) April 14, 1981.

Getty Images/Getty Images

A television frame grab shows U.S. President George W. Bush addressing the nation as NASA Mission Control employees stand at attention after space shuttle Columbia broke up and crashed before a scheduled landing on Feb. 1, 2003.

AP

In this image from television, contrails from what appears to be Columbia can be seen streaking across the sky over Texas.

AP

Maryland National Guard Chaplain Lt. Col. William Lee leads a prayer for the seven Columbia astronauts in Dundalk, Md.

NASA, REUTERS

Actor Clint Eastwood and DFRC Center Director Ike Gillam pose near the Space Shuttle Columbia in the Mate-Demate Device post-processing facility after the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) completed its first orbital flight with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14, 1981.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Shuttle Columbia makes her way to the launch pad on a foggy morning recently.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Members of the Columbia reconstruction team looks at a piece of debris which is part of the orbiter's belly on April 14, 2003.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Columbia investigation - NASA and United Space Alliance workers look at shuttle Columbia debris as it is placed in a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center.

DAVID J. PHILLIP, Associated Press

Environmental Protection Agency diver Brian Holderness, beside a marker, left, signals to the boat while searching for debris from Space Shuttle Columbia in Toledo Bend Reservoir in Six Mile, Texas on Feb. 18, 2003.

Associated Press

The left inboard main landing gear tire from space shuttle Columbia is shown in Cape Canaveral in this image released by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board March 4, 2003.

BOBBY COKER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Space Shuttle Columbia soars skyward on mission in March 2002.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Kennedy Space Center security officers Bruce Forton (right) and Mike Orr (left) lower the American flag and shuttle Columbia flag after the loss of Columbia and its 7 member crew Saturday. Launch Pad 39A is in the background where shuttle Columbia launched from 16 day ago.

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Jason Grogan (L), a local university official and volunteer, operates a Global Positioning System device as he notes and marks the location of debris from the space shuttle Columbia while a partner marks the ground on Feb. 2, 2003 in Douglass, Texas. Officials combed the Texas countryside looking for pieces of the shuttle after Columbia broke apart 200,000 feet above Texas during its landing approach one day earlier.

Matt Stroshane/Getty Images

Space Shuttle Columbia, a seasoned space shuttle that had already completed over 25 missions before 2003, lifts off of launch pad 39-A from the Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 16, 2003 in Cape Canaveral, Fl. The research mission hosted over 80 experiments conducted by the seven person crew over 16 days.

BOBBY COKER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Edward Eads reflects today near the Gemini statue at Space View Park. Eads used to bring his kids to watch the launches.

Getty Images/Getty Images

(r-l) The shuttle flight control room in Houston's Mission Control Center is seen on Jan. 16, 2003 in Houston, Texas, waiting for Space Shuttle Columbia to launch at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Columbia launched at 9:39 a.m. (CST) that day.

RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL

Space shuttle Columbia launches from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on June 25, 1992.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Astronaut William C. McCool, STS-107 pilot, talks to ground controllers from space from the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Columbia on Jan. 20, 2003.

JESSICA MANN, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Teams of search and recovery workers looking for Columbia space shuttle debris line for an appreciation dinner for all the search and recovery workers of Sabine County Texas.

TERRY RENNA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Spectators empty out of the stands of the space shuttle landing facility a the Kennedy Space Center after hearing of problems with Columbia.

ANDREW D. BROSIG, Associated Press

Mac Powell examines a piece of debris believed to be from the Space Shuttle Colombia that fell Feb. 1, 2003, behind his home west of Nacogdoches, Texas, on Feb. 2. The shuttle tore to pieces 39 miles above Texas as the spaceship re-entered Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts.

JESSICA MANN, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Diver Alan Humphrey of the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to search for Columbia debris in the Toledo Bend Reservoir in Fairmont, Texas, on Feb. 11, 2003.

JESSICA MANN/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Shuttle Columbia sits at Kennedy Space Center March 12, 2002, after an 11-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Associated Press

A member of the Space Shuttle Columbia reconstruction project team examines part of the Columbia debris on the hangar floor of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on May 6, 2003. The last truckload of wreckage was delivered to the hangar early that morning.

KEVIN GREEN, Associated Press

Ed Rohner, the A. L. Mangham Jr. Regional Airport manager, left, and J.D. Redfield, right, stand over a large ball of wreckage that had been pulled from the runway after the space shuttle broke apart in flames over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Rohner said two NASA employees, both former astronauts, inspected the large metal globe an confirmed it was from the shuttle.

NASA, REUTERS

Aerial view of the STS-2 Space Shuttle Columbia launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on November 12, 1981. Picture was taken by astronaut John Young aboard NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA).

ORLANDO SENTINEL

Shuttle Columbia, STS-3, on its launch pad configuration prior to its scheduled 11:00 a.m. launch from pad 39A on March 22, 1982 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

AP PHOTO/NASA TV

Astronauts aboard Columbia's Spacehab wave to a television camera as they talk about the importance of the "Teacher In Space" program. With an apple floating in the foreground the crew from left to right, astronaut David Brown, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, commander Rick Husband, astronaut Kalpana Chawla, pilot William McCool, astronaut Michael Anderson, and astronaut Laurel Clark.

Pool/Getty Images

U.S. President George W. Bush speaks during a memorial service for the astronauts who died in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster at the Johnson Space Center on Feb. 4, 2003 in Houston, Texas. The memorial was attended by NASA employees and the families of the crew.

AP

The Texas state flag flies at half-staff above the Capitol in honor of the seven astronauts aboard Columbia.

PAT SULLIVAN, Associated Press

People gather outside Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to pay their respects and leave flowers in honor of the seven astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Space Shuttle Columbia creates a stunning light show in the eastern sky as it carries its 7-member crew to work on the Hubble Space Telescope in March 2002.

J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, Associated Press

Iain Clark, 8, right, with his father Dr. Jonathan Clark, left, places a rose atop the casket of his mother and the senior Clark's wife, space-shuttle astronaut Laurel Clark, during a graveside service with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on March 10, 2003.

BRAD LOPER, Associated Press

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers Steve Crowell, center, and Kenneth Jones, right, check their map with U.S. Forrest Service worker Ryan Eff while searching the woods for shuttle Columbia debris south of Hemphill, Texas, on Feb. 13, 2003.

Brett Coomer/Getty Images

The names of the seven astronauts lost aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia are written on bags at a makeshift memorial at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Feb. 2, 2003 in Houston, Texas.

JOE CAVARETTA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fires, believed started by debris from the downed space shuttle Columbia, burn in an area near Dallas-day mission.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, talks about the space shuttle Columbia disaster with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, left, in Austin, Texas. Space shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas, killing all seven astronauts, 16 minutes before their scheduled landing in Florida. Perry's chief of staff, Mike Toomey is in the background.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

The space shuttle Columbia heads for orbit on a mission to renovate the Hubble Space Telescope after lifting off in March 2002 from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

An unidentified NASA media escort, center, waits with members of the media for more information on the status of space shuttle Columbia while on the roof of the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Things took a turn for the worse on Feb. 1, 2003 when the space shuttle Columbia attempted to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Damage done to the ship's thermal protection system on the left wing – which was seen upon takeoff, but not deemed harmful – caused the ship to break up. Here, a television frame grab shows the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia minutes before a scheduled landing on Feb. 1, 2003.

ED SACKETT, ORLANDO SENTINEL

One of the EPA's on-scene inspectors retrieves a piece of the shuttle from on top the Douglass School, as federal officials made the schools a top priority for gathering the debris, February 3, 2003.

AP

Flowers sit next to a piece of debris from Columbia in Nacogdoches, Texas.

NASA, REUTERS

NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) rises above Launch Complex 39's Pad A at Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. Commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen were on board the first orbital flight of the space shuttle program.

David McNew/Getty Images

Images of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (R) and the six other members of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia are left on dispaly following a memorial service for the crew at the Crystal Cathedral church in Garden Grove, Cali. on Feb. 4, 2003.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A spectator at the space shuttle landing facility weeps after hearing the news of the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas on Saturday minutes before it was to land in Florida.

George Skene, Orlando Sentinel

Hemphill, Tex-Volunteers unload from buses to begin search for astronaut remains from the crash of space shuttle Columbia on Feb. 2, 2003.

Getty Images/Getty Images

The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia's mission STS-107, seen here prior to their Jan. 16, 2003 mission, take a break from their training regime to pose for the traditional crew portrait. Seated in front are astronauts Rick D. Husband (L), mission commander; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; and William C. McCool, pilot. Standing are (L to R) astronauts David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark, and Michael P. Anderson, all mission specialists; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist representing the Israeli Space Agency.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Members of the National Guard stand watch over a piece of Space Shuttle Columbia debris on Feb. 1, 2003 in Nacogdoches, Texas. A mass search for pieces of the Columbia kicked off starting the day of the accident. Pieces would later be found across various states.

Associated Press

Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 16, 2003.

Getty Images/Getty Images

This image from a NASA handout video shows a close up of a piece of debris falling from the external tank, then striking the left wing of the Space Shuttle Columbia during launch on Jan. 16, 2003. NASA officials noticed this piece of debris during lift off of Columbia, but did not consider it a major problem at the time. NASA Mission Control lost contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia during re-entry on February 1 and later learned that the shuttle had broken up over Texas.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

An American flag at the Kennedy Space Center press site flies at half-staff due to the loss of Shuttle Columbia.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Astronaut Mark Kelly (right) carries a piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia as he and fellow astronaut Greg Johnson (center) work to recover pieces of the fallen space shuttle in Nacogdoches, Texas on Saturday. The shuttle broke apart in flames 200,000 feet over Texas on Saturday morning, killing all seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida.

David Silverman/Getty Images

Yoel Strimling, of Israel, and his 7-year-old son Moshe applaud as they watch the Columbia space shuttle lift off while sitting on the floor of an appliance store in a shopping mall on Jan. 16, 2003 in Ranana, Israel. Ilan Ramon's presence on the ship meant a great deal to Israel.

DAVID J. PHILLIP, Associated Press

Astronaut Mark Kelly picks up a piece of debris from Space Shuttle Columbia marked by flowers left by a passer-by in Nacogdoches, Texas on Feb. 1, 2003. Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames 200,000 feet over Texas, killing all seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida.

SUE OGROCKI, Associated Press

Members of the Texas Dive Recovery Team lower side scan sonar equipment into the water of the Toledo Bend Reservoir near Hemphill, Texas on Feb. 4, 2003, as they search for space-shuttle debris. The sonar bounces sound waves off the reservoir bottom to help locate what authorities believe is a car-size chunk of debris.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Columbia Tragedy - T-38 training jets fly over runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center runway at the conclusion of the STS-107 Columbia Crew Memorial Service on Feb. 7, 2003. The hour-long ceremony was held on the runway where Columbia and its 7- member crew were suppose to land.

NASA, REUTERS

The sun sets as Space Shuttle Columbia sits on Launch Pad 39A in this NASA handout photo released on February 19, 1981. Columbia (STS-1) launched on April 12, 1981 on the first orbital flight of the space shuttle program.

Associated Press

Columbia lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Jan. 16, 2003.

AP/Tyler Morning Telegraph, Dr. Scott Lieberman

Debris from the space shuttle Columbia streaks across the sky over Tyler, Texas shot by an amateur photographer.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Space Shuttle Columbia disappeared from radar screens while over Texas; at the time, it was due to land back in Cape Canaveral, Fl. in 16 minutes. A television frame grab shows the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia minutes before a scheduled landing. All seven crew members were killed.

JESSICA MANN, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Volunteers in Sabine County stomp through mud and brush in search of any debris or remains from the shuttle Columbia. Close to freezing temperatures and rain slowed the search for debris and remains in on Feb. 9, 2003. Teams in Nacogdoches County were brought back early to prevent hypothermia.

TIM SHARP/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A road sign over Interstate 35 heading into downtown Dallas asks motorists to report any debris to the authorities.

AP

A charred piece debris believed to be from the space shuttle Columbia lies on the patio of a home in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Texas state troopers stand guard over a suspected piece of debris from the space shuttle Columbia on Feb. 2, 2003 in Douglass, Texas. Officials combed the Texas countryside looking for pieces of the shuttle after Columbia broke apart 200,000 feet above Texas during its landing approach one day earlier.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

A message reading "I'll Never Forget. You Are Heroes." is written next to a photograph of the astronauts who were killed aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as part of a tribute at the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum oh Feb. 4, 2003 in New York.

Orlando Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) launches from the launch pad at KSC on its first flight into orbit, April 12, 1981.

ERIC GAY, Associated Press

A soldier works around American flags and flowers as he recovers a piece of Space Shuttle Columbia debris near Nacogdoches, Texas, on Feb. 4, 2003. Some 12,000 pieces of debris had been collected by late Monday afternoon. Human remains were reported at 15 locations in Nacogdoches County alone.

BRUCE WEAVER, Associated Press

A picture of the nose of an orbiter is taped to wreckage of Columbia wrapped in protective covering in a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 26, 2003.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Susan Nelson, right, of United Space Alliance comforts an unidentified co-worker inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral after hearing the news that space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames as it streaked over Texas toward its landing strip Saturday, killing all seven astronauts.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Spectators console each other after hearing news of the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas while leaving the Space Shuttle landing facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas on Saturday minutes before it was to land in Florida.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Ilan Ramon (C), STS-107 payload specialist, and astronaut Kalpana Chawla (L), mission specialist, work with the Combustion Module-2 facility in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on Jan. 27, 2003. Ramon represented the Israeli Space Agency.

USAF/Getty Images

An honor guard carries the casket of a crew member of the space shuttle Columbia to a temporary mortuary on Feb. 2, 2003 at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Accompanying the honor guard is NASA astronaut Jim Reilly (C).

ED SACKETT, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Search-team members in Nacogdoches, Texas, look for shuttle parts on Feb. 6, 2003, but bad weather makes the hunt difficult.

JESSICA MANN, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Mark Janson of the Houston Police Department gets out of the 50-degree water that he had been searching on Feb. 11, 2003. Just finishing covering their 50 feet of target area, they were going to rotate divers and move on to another area. They divers stayed out for 8 hours a day diving after a briefing in the morning. Members of the Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard, FBI, Houston Police Department, and various sheriff's departments search Toledo Bend Reservoir for debris from the shuttle Columbia.

MIKE NELSON/AFP via Getty Images

An American flag flies near a four-foot piece of the space shuttle Columbia that came down in a field near the town of Palestine, Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

A technician at Kennedy Space Center looks at a picture of a fuselage as he examines pieces of Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 14, 2003.

ED SACKETT, ORLANDO SENTINEL

One of the signs left near a piece of shuttle debris in a bank parking lot in downtown Nacogdoches, Texas, Feb. 2, 2003.

ED SACKETT, ORLANDO SENTINEL

A small flag is at half staff after being placed by a shuttle heat tile that fell in Rice, Texas, by Rice High School, on February 1, 2003.

Mike Theiler/Getty Images

Tourists walk past flags at half staff around the Washington Monument on Feb. 1, 2003 in Washington, DC. Flags across the country were lowered to honor the seven astronauts who perished as the space shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry en route to landing in Florida.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, STS-107 mission specialist, looks over a procedures checklist in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia orbiting the Earth on Jan. 27, 2003

NASA, REUTERS

Space Shuttle Columbia arrives at launch complex 39A in preparation for mission STS-1 at Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 29, 1980.

JACOB LANGSTON/ORLANDO SENTINEL

The U.S. and Israeli flags fly at half staff at the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando in Maitland, Fla.

DR. SCOTT LIEBERMAN, Associated Press

Debris from the disintegrating space shuttle Columbia streaks across the sky over Tyler, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2003. The 13-member Investigation Board, in charge of reviewing the Columbia accident, relocated to Washington to begin the task of writing a voluminous report detailing their findings.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Meredith Ridzinski, right, of Manhattan, with her grandmother Sue Lubroth, center, of Great Neck, N.Y, and aunt, Joan Eisner, of Rockville, M.D., read a news ticker in New York's Times Square announcing the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas.

AP

A piece of debris suspected from Columbia is found near Lufkin, Texas.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

The flag near the countdown clock flies at half staff.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The flag flies at half staff above the White House in Washington.

NASA, REUTERS

STS-1 crew members Commander John Young (L) and Pilot Robert Crippen pose with a model of the Space Shuttle Columbia at Johnson Space Center in Houston on May 7, 1979. Young and Crippen flew the first orbital mission of NASA's space shuttle program aboard the Columbia.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kennedy Space Center rescue personnel remove their gear at the space shuttle landing facility after hearing news of the space shuttle Columbia breaking up over Texas at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

Jessica Mann, Orlando Sentinel

Mark Janson of the Houston Police Department gets out of his boat after searching 50 feet around that target area with a dive partner. Finding nothing, they moved on to the next area. Members of the Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard, FBI, Houston Police Department, and various sheriff's departments search Toledo Bend Reservoir on Feb. 11, 2003, for debris from the shuttle Columbia.

JESSICA MANN, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Ben Zerfas of Elgin, Ill., comes in for a landing before the group is relocated to Alto, Texas, for the day. Destiny Powered Parachutes continued their search out of Nacogdoches from tree-top level for debris and remains on Feb. 10, 2003.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

A medical examiner (C), followed by a NASA official, carries a box out of the woods near the site where body remains were found earlier on Feb. 2, 2003 in Hemphill, Texas. It is unclear if the box is holding human remains or debris from the space shuttle Columbia.

NASA, REUTERS

NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) rises above Launch Complex 39's Pad A at Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. Commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen were on board STS-1, the first orbital flight of the space shuttle program.

ED SACKETT, ORLANDO SENTINEL

Space Shuttle Columbia's family members leave the memorial at Johnson Space Center in Houston Feb. 4, 2003, as the photo of the Columbia crew sits on the stage.

NASA, REUTERS

The Space Shuttle Columbia arrives atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at Kennedy Space Center on January 26, 1990. The Vehicle Assembly Building is seen in the background.

BOBBY COKER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Shuttles Bar owner Ken Kalata stands next to a Challenger memorial painted on the building. He plans to have a Columbia memorial painted next to it soon.

Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel

Spectators and members of the media at the press site at Kennedy Space Center watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-2) on November 12, 1981.

Getty Images/Getty Images

(L to R) Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Commander Rick Husband and Mission Specialist Laurel Clark on board the Space Shuttle Columbia speak during an interview from space, during mission STS-107, between Jan. 16, 2003 and February 1. The crew conducted microgravity research during their 16 days in space.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

Shimon Levy of an Israeli television crew watches NASA television reports at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, on the loss of the space shuttle Columbia.

Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel

Shuttle Columbia (left) rolls out to the launch pad August 9, 1990, as shuttle Atlantis is rolled from the launch into the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs.

NASA, REUTERS

The space shuttle Columbia lifts off from pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center on March 4, 1994.

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS, Associated Press

Sean O'Keefe, left, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, wipes his eye as he sits with his wife, Laura, and Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, far right, during the memorial service for the crew of the space shuttle Columbia at Washington National Cathedral on Feb. 6, 2003, in Washington.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Spectators leave the space shuttle landing facility after hearing news of the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia over Texas at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas on Saturday minutes before it was to land in Florida.

Getty Images/Getty Images

Astronaut Rick D. Husband, STS-107 mission commander, occupies the commander's station on the forward flight deck of the Shuttle Columbia on Jan. 17, 2003 while orbiting Earth.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

NASA employees hug after the STS-107 Columbia Crew Memorial Service on Feb. 7, 2003. The hour-long service took place on the runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

The reconstruction team at Kennedy Space Center continues to add pieces of Columbia to its collection on March 26, 2003. Teams were still collecting debris that fell when the shuttle disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana and shipping it to this hangar.

KIM SHIFLETT, Associated Press

Members of the restoration-project team confer amid wreckage of the Space Shuttle Columbia lying on the floor of this hangar at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday Feb. 28, 2003. Members of the restoration-project team examined the pieces and attempted to reconstruct the orbiter as part of the accident investigation.

Associated Press

In this image from television on Feb. 11, 2003, International Space Station Commander Ken Bowersox, center, Russian Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, left, and Science Officer Don Pettit hold a news conference from the Space Station.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

An Indian family sit in front of a television set as they watch the news about space shuttle Columbia, in Bombay, India. The space shuttle broke apart in flames as it streaked over Texas towards its landing strip Saturday, killing all seven astronauts on board including Indian-born Kalpana Chawla.

Getty Images/Getty Images

NASA Headquarters personnel somberly watch NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's statement on NASA Television following the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia at NASA Headquarters on Feb. 1, 2003 in Washington, DC. The Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry over Texas, killing all seven astronauts onboard.

RED HUBER, Orlando Sentinel

A portion of shuttle Columbia's windshield assembly lays on the floor of the Reusable Launch Vehicle hangar at the Kennedy Space Center.

Brett Coomer/Getty Images

A crowd of people gathers at a makeshift memorial for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 2, 2003 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

ANDREW D. BROSIG/THE DAILY SENTINEL

Debris believed to be a piece of the space shuttle Colombia lies behind police barrier tape in downtown Nacogdoches, Texas. The shuttle is believed to have disintegrated during re-entry moments before it was scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Mario Villafuerte/Getty Images

Students in an eighth grade class at Rusheon Middle School in Bossier City, Louisiana watch the memorial for the Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts on television on Feb. 4, 2003. Student Taylor (L) and most of the class reside at Barksdale Air Force Base, where the investigation of the space shuttle accident was being coordinated. The memorial, held in Houston, Texas, was attended by U.S. President George W. Bush, NASA employees and the families of the crew.

NASA, REUTERS

Large crowds gather on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base to see the first landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) after its first orbital mission on April 14, 1981.

AP PHOTO/WFAA-TV VIA CNN

A contrail that appears to be from the space shuttle Colombia is shown in the sky in this image from television. Space shuttle Columbia apparently disintegrated in flames over Texas on Saturday minutes before it was to land in Florida. TV video showed what appeared to be falling debris, as NASA declared an emergency and warned residents to beware of falling objects.

BOBBY COKER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

People in Brevard County reacted to the loss of the shuttle Columbia Saturday, February 1, 2003.

AP

Israeli woman Sara Yohanan weeps as she hears news about the loss of contact with space shuttle Columbia.

KIM SHIFLETT, Associated Press

Members of the Space Shuttle Columbia restoration project team examine a piece of wreckage in a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 28, 2003.

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS, Associated Press

An American flag, along the base of the Washington Monument, flies at half-staff in memorial of those who died aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003, in Washington.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

A member of the Columbia Reconstruction team holds a piece of shuttle Columbia's debris in a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center on April 4, 2003.

USAF/Getty Images

An honor guard carries the casket of a crew member of the space shuttle Columbia to a temporary mortuary on Feb. 2, 2003 at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL

The Mobile Launch Platform that was used for shuttle Columbia is brought back from Launch Pad 39A to an area near the Vehicle Assembly Building in March 2003. A tour bus bus from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex passes by the Mobile Launch Platform.

NASA, REUTERS

U.S. President Ronald Reagan speaks to a crowd of more than 45,000 people at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center following the landing of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-4) on July 4, 1982. To the right of the President are First Lady Nancy Reagan and NASA Administrator James Beggs. To the left are STS-4 Columbia astronauts Thomas Mattingly and Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. The Enterprise is in the background.

AP photo

Hundreds of people pause for a moment of silence in front of the Space Mirror at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Space shuttle Columbia disintegrated 39 miles over Texas on Saturday in a meteoric streak that rained smoking debris over hundreds of miles of countryside in at least two states. All seven astronauts were lost, a tragedy that echoed the Challenger explosion almost exactly 17 years earlier.

KIM SHIFLETT, Associated Press

The Space Shuttle Columbia leaves the vehicle assembly building on its journey to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 9, 2002. Visible are tiles that flank the shuttle to protect it during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Foam fell off the fuel tank on launch day and damaged these tiles on the wing. At the time the damage was deemed minor.

RED HUBER/ORLANDO SENTINEL

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe wipes his face before a media briefing at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. O'Keefe was commenting on the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and her crew of seven astronauts before landing.

Chris Livingston/Getty Images

(L-R) Jeff and Dina Fowle of Waukesha, Wisconsin watch as the Space Shuttle Columbia launches from the Kennedy Space Center January 16, 2003 near Titusville, Florida. Security around the space center was increased for the shuttle launch that day because Payload Specialist, Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, was onboard. A life-size replica of a shuttle appears behind the spectators at the nearby Astronaut Hall of Fame.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Astronaut Mark Kelly picks up a piece of debris from space shuttle Columbia marked by flowers left by a passer-by in Nacogdoches, Texas. Space shuttle Columbia broke apart in flames 200,000 feet over Texas on Saturday, killing all seven astronauts just minutes before they were to glide to a landing in Florida.