At the Colombia-2003 ,following a 16-day mission, the veteran space transport Columbia (which made the van program's first trip in quite a while) reemerging the Earth's air in front of an arranged arriving at Cape Canaveral when misfortune struck: The van's orbiter poor into pieces, pouring garbage over eastern Texas and killing each of the seven space explorers on board. A little piece of protecting froth had loosened up from a gas tank during send off and pierced Columbia's left wing, but since the froth had separated during before transport dispatches without occurrence, NASA authorities didn't think it was an issue. Upon reemergence, notwithstanding, hot gases and smoke infiltrated the harmed wing, making it sever and the remainder of the van to deteriorate. The Columbia catastrophe denoted the start of the finish of the U.S. space transport program; NASA would resign its last space transport in 2011.