
Space Workhorse – A History Of The Space Shuttle – Episode 5: Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia, with an international crew, completed a very successful 16 day scientific mission in January 2003 and was preparing to land on February 1st. After re-entry and over Texas the shuttle disintegrated killing all seven crew members. This episode shows the mission including video made by the crew during reentry up to four minutes before disaster struck. There is also footage of the NASA memorial service and coverage of the investigation. The shuttle program was grounded until July 2005 with the launch of space shuttle Discovery on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Columbia had made the initial space shuttle flight, STS-1, in April 1981.