February 1, 2003
Columbia Breaks Apart, Killing Ilan Ramon
Historical context
On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry. Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon died with the crew.
Archive record
Read the event, then follow its documented sources and archive threads.
- Date
- February 1, 2003
- Verified sources
- 2
- Archive threads
- 6
On this day, Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry. NASA records that the STS-107 crew was lost over East Texas at about 9 a.m. Eastern time, about 16 minutes before the planned landing at Kennedy Space Center. The mission had launched on January 16.
Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force, was the payload specialist. NASA records that he was born in Tel Aviv on June 20, 1954, and that he logged 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes in space on this first flight. The other crew members were Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, and Laurel Clark.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- STS-107 · NASA · NASA View source
- Ilan Ramon · NASA · NASA View source
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