February 1, 2003
Within minutes of landing on February 1, 2003, the shuttle Columbia broke apart, leaving long trails in the Texas sky that heralded the second tragedy in the history of the Space Shuttle. All seven astronauts on board died, in a tragedy that left its mark on the space age. Since then it took two years before another shuttle could fly again, but it was now an old vehicle, which many considered very complex and increasingly difficult to manage. His departure from the scene in 2011 marked the beginning of a long transition phase that led to simpler shuttles, which private companies now manage on behalf of NASA. In 1981, Columbia was the first of the new generation of American space vehicles: the Space Shuttles designed to assert the United States’ supremacy in space, with a service of reusable shuttles, which took off thanks to booster rockets and returned, landing as gliders.
01:49
#tragedy #shuttle #Columbia #relived #years #archival #images