The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was a tragedy that could have been avoided. A crucial flaw in the shuttle's design—the external fuel tank's foam insulation—was known to NASA engineers, yet no proper action was taken to address it. During launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off and struck the shuttle's left wing, causing damage that went unnoticed. Re-entering Earth's atmosphere, the damaged wing could not withstand the extreme heat and caused the shuttle to disintegrate, resulting in the loss of all seven crew members.
