On Saturday Feb. 1, we were shocked to learn the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew were lost when the vehicle broke apart as it returned from a 16-day mission. The shuttle carried a crew of seven: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Mission Specialists Dave Brown, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark, Payload Commander Mike Anderson, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israel Space Agency.

We can honor the work of these valiant men and women by studying their mission, learning about the Space Shuttle Columbia, and researching other NASA missions. The following resources will get you started.

Review NASA information on the Columbia space shuttle accident.

Print photo of the Columbia crew insignia (use low resolution).

Print photo of the Columbia crew (use low resolution).

Learn the history of the Columbia space shuttle.

Read opinions about the space shuttle from newspapers around the world.

Go here to translate newspapers into English.

Review Challenger disaster information.

See a Challenger crew photo.