Washington, Feb 01: All the seven astronauts on board the ‘Columbia’ shuttle including the first ever Indian-origin woman astronaut Kalpana Chawla were killed today when the space vehicle broke in flames today at a height of 63,000 metres over Texas, sixteen minutes before it was due to land.

Four hours after the tragedy, Nasa chief administrator Sean O`keefe at a news conference at Cape Canaveral confirmed the deaths of the seven-member crew that also included five Americans and one Israeli.
“This is indeed a tragic day for the Nasa family, for the families of the astronauts who flew on flight STS 107 and likewise tragic for the nation," he said.
President George W Bush also spoke with the families of the crew "to express deepest national regrets." Debris from the ill-fated shuttle was strewn hundreds of kilometres across Texas, as authorities scrambled to locate it.

Bureau Report Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon`s office said that it had no immediate comment.

Columbia`s crew had completed 80-plus scientific research experiments during their time in orbit.

Just in the last week, Nasa observed the anniversary on its only two other space tragedies, the challenger explosion, which killed all seven astronauts on board, and Apollo space craft fire that killed three on Jan 27, 1967.
Bureau Report