On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas just 16 minutes before it was due to land. All seven astronauts aboard perished; NASA responded by announcing the retirement of the shuttle program in 2010. What caused the Columbia disaster? An engineering flaw? A failure within NASA? Could this catastrophe have been avoided? Through interviews with astronauts, NASA personnel, and members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, Space Shuttle Disaster gives viewers a new look at the Columbia tragedy, and at NASA itself. Space Shuttle Disaster gets to the heart of what went wrong and explores why the shuttle program fell short of its ambitious goal to make space travel routine, cheap, and safe. The film also spotlights NASA's plans for the future of U.S. spaceflight following the shuttle's scheduled retirement.

1 videodisc. Chapters: introduction an experimental vehicle safetyconcerns a tragedy in the making the investigation the future of spaceflight.