STS-107

A dedicated microgravity research flight, STS-107 kept Columbia in orbit for sixteen days while its crew of seven ran some eighty experiments across the physical, biological, and space sciences, working in the first flight of the SPACEHAB Research Double Module. Among them was Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space. The flight ended in catastrophe: a piece of foam shed from the external tank during ascent had punched the left wing's thermal protection, and on 1 February 2003 the orbiter broke apart over Texas during re-entry, killing all seven aboard. The loss grounded the shuttle fleet for more than two years.