![]() ![]() However, the damage on STS-27 occurred at a spot that had more robust metal (a thin steel plate near the landing gear), and that mission survived the re-entry. The damage to the thermal protection system on the wing was similar to that Atlantis had sustained in 1988 during STS-27, the second mission after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The cockpit window frame is now exhibited in a memorial inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis Pavilion at the Kennedy Space Center. During re-entry the damaged wing slowly overheated and came apart, eventually leading to loss of control and disintegration of the vehicle. The source of the failure was determined to have been caused by a piece of foam that broke off during launch and damaged the thermal protection system ( reinforced carbon-carbon panels and thermal protection tiles) on the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing. Immediately after the disaster, NASA convened the Columbia accident Investigation Board to determine the cause of the disintegration. The disaster occurred during reentry while the Columbia was over Texas. The crew conducted a multitude of international scientific experiments. It spent 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds in orbit. The flight launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003. It was the 88th post- Challenger disaster mission. The mission ended, on February 1, 2003, with the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which killed all seven crew members and destroyed the space shuttle. STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. ![]()
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