High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it flew a total of 27 times before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 on the STS-107 mission (its 28th), killing all seven crew members aboard. Its destruction, followed by the subsequent independent investigation into its cause, has led NASA to the decision to retire the Shuttle orbiter fleet in 2010 in favor of the Orion spacecraft, an Apollo-derived spacecraft that will serve as the backbone for the upcoming Constellation Program.