On this day in 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates 40 miles above earth, just 15 minutes before its scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All astronauts aboard were killed – commander Rick D. Husband, pilot William C. McCool, payload commander Michael P. Anderson, mission specialists David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark, and Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon.

This painting by Mort Künstler shows the first launch of the Columbia on April 12, 1981.