What happened, exactly? On Columbia's 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing.
Anymore history? -columbia was destroyed over east Texas on its landing descent to Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 1, 2003, at 8:59 a.m -Columbia was named after a small sailing vessel that operated out of Boston in 1792 and explored the mouth of the Columbia River.