Columbia Missing on Re-Entry, Crew Presumed Lost | Space
NASA lost communication with space shuttle Columbia and the orbiter did not appear in the skies over Central Florida.
www.space.comDirect answer: The space shuttle that burned up on reentry was Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) in 2003. No other shuttle has burned up on reentry in a confirmed disaster since then.
Context and quick notes:
- Columbia broke apart during reentry over Texas and Louisiana on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crew members. This remains the only Space Shuttle disaster where the vehicle was destroyed during atmospheric reentry .
- Public reporting and investigations concluded that a piece of insulating foam from the external tank damaged a wing leading to catastrophic heat damage during reentry .
- Since then, the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, with the remaining shuttles retired and there have been no other reentry-destruct events in NASA's shuttle era .
If you’d like, I can pull reputable sources with exact dates and incident details or provide a concise timeline of the Columbia incident and its aftermath.