No one knows what caused the space shuttle Columbia to disintegrate over Texas, but there are some strong indications. Most significantly, it happened at the exact moment when the heat exerted on a ...

A technical report warned at least nine years ago that the space shuttle could be destroyed if tiles protecting critical wing parts were damaged by debris, but NASA engineers never found a complete ...

The thermal tiles that have come under suspicion in the Columbia disaster seem almost absurdly brittle for something that is supposed to protect the spacecraft from the extreme heat and other rigors ...

Now the failure of the tiles is a leading theory for the catastrophic end of Columbia. NASA struggled for years in trying to ensure that the tiles were firmly attached to the shuttle, Paul Fischbeck, ...

A NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at about 75 miles above sea level and speeds close to 17,500 mph. When slowing down to its landing speed of about 215 mph, the orbiter's ...

Click to open image viewer. Black reusable insulation tiles shielded the entire underside of the Space Shuttle orbiter, as well as portions of the vertical tail, wings, and forward and aft fuselage ...