NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia had its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and continued to fly for another 22 years until its final disastrous flight in February 2003.
More than 20 years after this tragedy, CNN is retelling the story in a special four-episode program titled Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight that premieres on April 7th and ends on April 14th.
In its publicity for the series, CNN states:
Across four episodes, the story of the ticking-clock of Columbia’s final mission is told in dramatic detail, beginning months before the troubled launch, unfolding across the sixteen days in orbit, and concluding with the investigation into the tragic loss of the seven astronauts’ lives. Weaving together intimate footage shot by the astronauts themselves inside the orbiter, exclusive first-hand testimony from family members of the Shuttle’s crew, key players at NASA – some of whom have never spoken before – and journalists who covered the story on the ground, the series paints an intimate portrait of the women and men onboard and uncovers in forensic detail the trail of events and missed opportunities that ultimately led to disaster.
We are certainly in another place as a nation these days, but the end of the shuttle program crippled our human spacefaring capabilities for years until SpaceX came along. We are back to reusable spacecraft again, but in a whole new format – less spaceplane and more Apollo capsule.
I look forward to the look back. I just hope we are done with “missed opportunities” and have a new mindset as we head back to the Moon.
Our Awesome Universe 