Answer:
The Columbia space shuttle was destroyed on February 1, 2003 during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere after a 16 day mission. The cause of the accident was determined to be a piece of foam insulation that had broken off of the external tank and struck the wing of the shuttle during launch. This incident was a result of the same issues that led to the destruction of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986, which was a failure to learn from previous mistakes.