This day in space (February 1, 2003): The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

On January 16, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia set off on its 28th mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the launch, a one-pound piece of foam broke off and impacted the thermal protection system on the edge of the shuttle’s left wing. NASA’s ignorance of the damage caused by this would ultimately spell doom for the crew of seven onboard.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis and Apollo 8 Firing Room at Kennedy Space Center

Apollo 8 Firing Room, Saturn V rocket, Hubble Space telescope, Space Shuttle Atlantis, and more.

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Flashback: SpaceX in 2012 vying for NASA commercial crew contract post Space Shuttle

Elon Musk’s 60 Minutes interview with Scott Pelley on CBS in 2012 has aged remarkably well for SpaceX.

Two things stand out. Falcon 9 and Dragon were only just preparing to begin cargo delivery to the International Space Station — something that’s now routine.

And Elon was dreaming of SpaceX succeeding the Space Shuttle for taking astronauts to space from American soil. Eight years later and that day has nearly arrived.

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