Tragedy today. The Space Shuttle Columbia, scheduled for touchdown at 9:16AM, February 1st, lost contact with NASA at 9:00 AM over Texas. The Shuttle was then seen, breaking apart, 200k feet off the ground. As of now, 11:30 AM, it is believed the crew are all dead. As of right now, it appears it was a problem with the heat shield having a flaw.

Almost 17 years to the day after SS Challenger exploded after takeoff. Please, take a moment out of your days to think of the crew, and their families. Take another moment to thank them, as well. They were doing a service to humanity, furthering exploration and science.

Rest it peace,

Rick D. Husband (2), Commander

William C. McCool (1), Pilot

Michael P. Anderson (2), Payload Commander

Kalpana Chawla (2), Mission Specialist

David M. Brown (1), Mission Specialist

Laurel B. Clark (1), Mission Specialist

Ilan Ramon (1), (ISA) Payload Specialist