Seven astronauts died when NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry on 1 February 2003, with the crew unaware of the danger until their final moments
Jane Lavender Associate Editor and Julia Banim Audience Writer
01:00, 01 Feb 2026
The seven astronauts who died on Space Shuttle Columbia(Image: Mission Pictures)
NASA’s mission control had suspicions that Space Shuttle Columbia might be in peril – but the astronauts on board were kept in the dark until their terrifying final moments.
On February 1, 2003, seven crew members were getting ready to return home after a successful 16-day space mission.
They’d been told a piece of foam insulation had come loose from the external tank, striking the port wing of the craft during take-off, but were reassured the damage was minor.
Ground staff were confident the heat shield would still function as expected.
This evaluation, tragically, turned out to be wrong. With the shield compromised, there was little hope the shuttle would withstand re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, spelling certain death for all on board, reports the Mirror.
Space Shuttle Columbia liftoff from Kennedy Space Center, Florida
The doomed astronauts were commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, David Brown and Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut.
The shuttle was positioned too far from the International Space Station to receive help and lacked a robotic arm that could have facilitated repairs. Even if another shuttle had been sent, it would have arrived far too late.
Yet the astronauts had been given assurances there was no reason to worry, oblivious they had only minutes left.
After receiving a 10-minute warning for their descent, those aboard the shuttle fully believed they would soon be welcomed back home as heroes.
This image from video shows NASA Mission Control shortly after contact was lost with the Space Shuttle Columbia(Image: Getty Images)
The doomed crew put on their suits and protective gloves as the vessel headed back towards the United States across the Pacific Ocean, preparing themselves for what they expected would be a routine landing.
Footage from these final, heartbreaking moments shows them appearing remarkably composed as they looked forward to completing their remarkable mission, occasionally laughing and exchanging pleasant words with one another.
At one point, they even remarked on the ‘amazing’ pink-hued glow they could observe through their cockpit windows.
Their colleagues on the ground could only look on helplessly as unusual data showed missing temperature readings from the left wing sensors, along with vanished tyre pressure measurements.
Family members of shuttle astronauts attend a dedication ceremony at the National Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center(Image: Reuters)
Shortly before 9am EST, Husband spoke with Mission Control for the last time, replying ‘Roger’ followed by another incomplete phrase before communication was lost.
A NASA crew survival investigation in 2008 determined that the astronauts likely survived the spacecraft’s initial break up before understanding the seriousness of their situation and losing consciousness moments after the cabin depressurised.
High-altitude exposure and severe impact trauma were responsible for their deaths, the investigation concluded.
Debris rained down across eastern Texas and western Louisiana in horrifying scenes for those looking upwards from the ground below.
After an extensive search operation, the remains of all seven crew members were discovered.
One astronaut wasn’t wearing their pressure suit helmet whilst three others had failed to don their spacesuit gloves.
The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia(Image: Getty Images)
However, the investigation didn’t conclude that crew error had played a role in the spacecraft’s destruction and determined it wasn’t a survivable incident.
NASA’s Wayne Hale, who later rose to become space shuttle programme manager, revealed on his blog the heartbreaking dilemma the team confronted that day.
He wrote: “If it has been damaged it’s probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don’t you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay in orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out?”.
A new three-part documentary The Space Shuttle That Fell to Earth delves into the mistakes made by NASA that led to the crew’s deaths. The series is available for streaming on BBC iPlayer.