On February 1st 2003, one most public disaster in the human space
program unfolded in the skies above north central Texas. The Space
Shuttle Columbia - the world's first truly reusable manned spacecraft -
disintegrated during its return to Earth, with a crew of seven. This
book chronicles each of Columbia's 28 missions, as described by
scientists and researchers who developed and supported its many
payloads, by the engineers who worked on it and by the astronauts who
flew Columbia. This record is intended to provide a fitting tribute to
this remarkable flying machine and those who perished on its last
mission.