When Space Shuttle Columbia launched in January 2003 ... It was damage from this blow, they suspected, that led to the shuttle's destruction. Yet some NASA officials were skeptical, claiming ...

revealing "significant erosion and 'blow-by' between the primary and secondary O-rings." The erosion was the most significant observed by the Space Shuttle program up to that point and was ...

STS-1, better known as the space shuttle Columbia ... six NASA crew members when the shuttle broke up 73 seconds into its flight. In 2003, damage to Columbia’s protective heat panels during ...