(CNN) --The space shuttle Columbia, lost with its seven-person crew in a catastrophic re-entry accident on Saturday, was considered for retirement in 2001. The oldest orbiter in the fleet ...

Related: Shuttle Columbia's Final Mission: Photos from STS-107 Columbia was the first space shuttle to fly in space; its first flight took place in April 1981, and it successfully completed 27 ...

Perhaps more than any other moment in NASA’s history, the Columbia shuttle disaster reshaped the US space agency’s approach to innovation, forever altering how it balanced risk with the call ...

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A NASA report on the last minutes of Space Shuttle Columbia cited problems with the crew's helmets, spacesuits and restraints, which resulted in "lethal trauma" to the ...

On Saturday, February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere. All seven crew members were killed. The Space Shuttle Columbia launched for the first time ...