Two airmen among seven lost in shuttle disaster

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Two Air Force officers were among the seven astronauts lost when the Space Shuttle Columbia apparently broke apart at 9 a.m. EST Feb.1 in the area over north central Texas. Col. Rick Husband was the mission commander and Lt. Col. Michael Anderson was the payload commander.

The shuttle was preparing to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida when NASA's Mission Control in Houston lost contact with the crew. The space vehicle was at an altitude of about 203,000 feet and was traveling at approximately 12,500 miles per hour, or Mach 18, when contact was lost.

Other members of the crew included Cmdr. William McCool, pilot for STS-107; Navy Capt. David Brown, mission specialist; Dr. Kalpana Chawla, flight engineer and mission specialist; Cmdr. Laurel Clark, mission specialist; and Israeli air force Col. Ilan Ramon, payload specialist.

NASA has put out an urgent request to the public to not pick up or disturb any debris that might be found. Also, a call has been made for any amateur video or film that might be helpful in the investigation. For either situation, the public is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.