<P> During the launch of STS - 107 , Columbia 's 28th mission , a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter . A few previous shuttle launches had seen damage ranging from minor to major from foam shedding , but some engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious . NASA managers limited the investigation , reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed . When Columbia re-entered the atmosphere of Earth , the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure , which caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart . </P>
what went wrong on the columbia space shuttle
a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter