#sts 107

February 1, 2003: 17 years ago today - David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla , Michael Anderson, William McCool, and Ilan Ramon perish when their space shuttle, Columbia, broke apart during reentry.

The Worst Week of American Spaceflight

On January 27th, 1967,the crew of Apollo 1 was undergoing a simulated countdown when an electrical fire started within the spacecraft. The hatch was bolted tightly onto the capsule. Escape was impossible and the blaze quickly grew in a pure oxygen atmosphere. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died on the pad. On January 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger was destroyed was…

14 лет назад потерпел катастрофу шаттл Columbia

14 лет прошло с даты катастрофы шаттла Columbia. В тот год 16 января 2003 года, когда шаттл Columbia поднимался на орбиту в безоблачном небе Флориды, кусок его обшивки оторвался от штанги, крепившей нос корабля к гигантскому топливному баку. (more…)

Today would have been Willie Mccool's 51st birthday. He was an amazing man of bravery, intelligence, hard work, kindness, and humility. He was a great astronaut, husband, father, son, and friend.

Here is a great quote to describe Willie by a friend:

Columbia's Final Liftoff

As billows of smoke and steam roll across the landscape, the launch of space shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107 is reflected in nearby water. Following a flawless and uneventful countdown, liftoff occurred at 10:39 a.m. EST. The 16-day research mission was the 28th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the 113th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.