Just before it disintegrated, space shuttle Columbia experienced an abnormal ... path — possible evidence that some heat-protection tiles were missing or damaged, NASA said Sunday.

The Space Shuttle Columbia, the first of its kind ... Originally scheduled to fly over the month earlier, tiles were broken when the coupling device failed. Then after those problems were fixed ...

While the Space Shuttle, officially known as the Space Transportation System (STS) would fly again after the Columbia disaster ... be shot into damaged thermal tiles with a device not unlike ...

He remembers finding tiles, pieces of the rocket and landing ... The Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum in Hemphill is dedicated to space shuttle Columbia and all nine of the lives lost.

Following its return to Earth after a 16-day space mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on its journey back into the Earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. All seven crew members were killed.

When Space Shuttle Columbia launched in January 2003, a piece of foam the size of a briefcase broke off from the shuttle's external fuel tank and hit the left wing. Some shuttle engineers worried ...

The Space Shuttle Columbia, the first of its kind ... Originally scheduled to fly over the month earlier, tiles were broken when the coupling device failed. Then after those problems were fixed ...