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At approximately 808AM CST on Saturday, February 1, the space shuttle Columbia apparently broke up in flight while descending toward a landing in Florida. The orbiter was over Texas at the time, engaging in the terminal phases of shuttle mission STS-107. Video of the sky area where the shuttle was descending shows multiple smoke trails, indicating that the orbiter had disintegrated. NASA has said that there was no indication of trouble from the astronauts.

Columbia was the oldest space shuttle, and also the heaviest. It was considered the best glider, for this reason. It first flew in 1981. It was carrying seven astronauts, including an Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon. Colonel Ramon was conducting experiments with a new camera.
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