coloumbia spacecraft

Space Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy space shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. Its first mission, STS-1, lasted from April 12 to April 14, 1981. On February 1, 2003, Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas, on its 28th mission, killing all seven crew members.

Columbia was roughly 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) heavier than subsequent orbiters such as Endeavour, which were of a slightly different design, and had benefitted from advances in materials technology. In part this was due to heavier wing and fuselage spars, the weight of early test instrumentation that remained fitted to the avionics suite, and an internal airlock that was not fitted to the other shuttles.Despite refinements to the launcher's thermal protection system and other enhancements, Columbia would never weigh as little unloaded as the other orbiters in the fleet. The next-oldest shuttle, Challenger, was also relatively heavy, although 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) lighter than Columbia.

TRIBUTE:

The shuttle's final crew was honored in 2003 when the USGS's Board of Geographic Names approved the name Columbia Point for a 13,980-foot mountain in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Mountains, less than a half-mile from Challenger Point, a peak named for America's other lost shuttle. The Columbia Hills on Mars were also named in honor of the crew, and a host of other memorials were dedicated in various forms.

In honor of the space shuttle Columbia following its destruction on February 1, 2003. Uniforms worn by crewmembers serving on this starship bore a patch similar to that on the uniforms worn by the space shuttle Columbia crewmembers, with 7 individual stars visible. Stars are often used on NASA mission insignias to represent the number of crewmembers.