PHOTOS

The space shuttle Columbia, with a crew of seven, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in this January 16, 2003 file photo. 

Columbia, carrying its crew of seven, streaks across Dallas, Texas sky, shortly before the crash on Saturday.

Space Shuttle Columbia crew members who perished when the space shuttle Columbia broke up in the skies over Texas after it lost contact with NASA minutes before its scheduled landing, on Saturday.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe (L) and former shuttle Commander William Readdy speaks at a Press conference about the space shuttle Columbia accident at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday.

An unidentified worker in the Vehicle Assembly Building (L) is consoled by security officer Susan Nelson after the space shuttle Columbia failed to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday.

Kennedy Space Center firefighters take off their gear after the space shuttle Columbia failed to return to the space center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday.

US Air Force search and medical rescue teams listen for information as they wait near their helicopters next to the shuttle landing facility for the overdue space shuttle Columbia at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday. The shuttle crashed over Texas.

FILE PHOTOS

A January 16, 2003 file photo shows the space shuttle Columbia crew departing for their quarters for the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Clockwise from lower left are Pilot Wille McCool, Kalpana Chawla, who was raised in India, Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli to travel on the space shuttle, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Mission Commander Rick Husband in lower right.

Space Shuttle Columbia Astronaut Kalpana Chawla looks over a procedures checklist in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on January 27, 2003. Columbia was NASA's oldest shuttle and first flew in 1981.

A few of the STS-107 crewmembers pose for a photo in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Clockwise from the bottom are astronauts David M. Brown, mission specialist; Michael P. Anderson, payload commander; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon. The Combustion Module-2 (CM-2) facility is visible in the background. Ramon represents the Israeli Space Agency. This photo was taken on January 27, 2003.

A file photo shows Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (L) reaching for a small Kiddush cup he is using to commemorate the Jewish Sabbath as it floats on the flight deck of the space shuttle Columbia on January 18, 2003, as fellow astronaut Kalpana Chawla looks on. 

STS-107 Mission Specialist Ilan Ramon, of the Israeli Space Agency, reviews data in Columbia's payload bay for Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research (FREESTAR) experiments for the mission in this May 24, 2002 file photo.

A December 18, 2002 file photo shows Space shuttle Columbia Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon during training on the operation of an M113 armored personnel carrier during Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Space shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband (foreground) and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (background) prepare to give a video tour from the aft flight deck of the orbiter Columbia in this January 29, 2003 file photo. 

                                                                                                           — Reuters photos