February 1, 2003 was when the space shuttle Columbia returned to Earth from a 16 day trip with important information.

But it lost contact with NASA at about nine A.M. the controllers of the mission thought it was a temporary problem, but they were wrong. Some

people called 911. It was no use. the Columbia and it's crew were lost!!!! To find out more, read on.                                              

            The Crew

       The commander was Rick D. Husband, a US air colonel. He

               was a mechanical engineer and piloted another shuttle.

                The pilot was William C. McCool, a US navy commander.

               The payload commander was Michael P. Anderson, a US air force lieutenant colonel.

              The payload specialist was Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli air force.