On February 1st 2003, one most public disaster in the human space program unfolded in the skies above north central Texas. The Space Shuttle Columbia - the world's first truly reusable manned spacecraft - disintegrated during its return to Earth, with a crew of seven. This book chronicles each of Columbia's 28 missions, as described by scientists and researchers who developed and supported its many payloads, by the engineers who worked on it and by the astronauts who flew Columbia. This record is intended to provide a fitting tribute to this remarkable flying machine and those who perished on its last mission.