Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); during landing the shuttle broke apart over Texas; all seven astronauts were killed; SH-DM.

More than 80 experiments were conducted to study Earth and space science, advanced technology development and astronaut health and safety; it were so different experiments as crystal growth, bone density, cancer cell growth (cancer tumors growing strong in space) and flame behavior in microgravity; four Israeli-proposed experiments are slated for the Columbia mission, they include the Mediterranean-Israel Dust Experiment camera designed to measure the impact of aerosols on cloud formations and rainfall; an examination of the phenomenon of red and blue flashes of light - known as sprites - that appear during lightning storms; an experiment on the effects of weightlessness on bacteria; and a eighth-grade student chemistry project; Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon was involved in these experiments.