“It looks sort of like a cylinder and it missed hitting a home by about 75 yards,” then-Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Marvin Hilton told the American Press. In Vernon, a one-foot piece of debris fell into a field near Burr Ferry on La. The shuttle broke apart over Texas, just 16 minutes from its planned Florida touchdown.Īfter the shuttle Columbia broke up during re-entry, it left a debris field that stretched west to east 380 miles from Eastland, Texas, to Alexandria and north-south 250 miles from Sulphur Springs, Texas, to Vernon Parish. 1, 2003, after a piece of fuel-tank foam came off and punctured the left wing during liftoff 16 days earlier. Southwest Louisiana continues to mourn the tragedy, as well.Ĭolumbia was destroyed during re-entry on Feb. NASA marked the 20th anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia catastrophe with somber ceremonies and remembrances during its annual tribute to fallen astronauts on Thursday. McCool, pilot and payload commander Michael P. From the left (top row), wearing blue shirts, are mission specialist David M. Clark and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist.

From the left (bottom row), wearing red shirts to signify their shift’s color, are mission specialist Kalpana Chawla, commander, Rick D. This picture was on a roll of unprocessed film later recovered by searchers from the debris. 1, 2003, the seven crew members were lost as the Columbia fell apart over East Texas. This undated photo from NASA released in June 2003 shows STS-107 crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Human space shuttle columbia debris