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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

The Columbia Hills

The Columbia Hills
The Columbia Hills On 2 February 2004, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe announced that the seven astronauts lost with Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003 would be memorialized in the names of seven hills seen on Spirit's eastern horizon. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell

The Shuttle Columbia was commanded by Rick Husband and piloted by William McCool. The mission specialists were Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark; and the payload specialist was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia and its crew were lost over the western United States during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere The 28th and final flight of Columbia was a 16-day mission dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences. The Columbia crew successfully conducted approximately 80 separate experiments during their mission.

This image, taken from Spirit's PanCam looking east, depicts the nearby hills dedicated to the final crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. Arranged alphabetically from left to right - "Anderson Hill" is the most northeast of Spirit's landing site and 3 kilometers away. Next are "Brown Hill" and "Chawla Hill," both 2.9 kilometers distant. Next is "Clark Hill" at 3 kilometers. "Husband Hill" and "McCool Hill," named for Columbia's commander and pilot respectively, are 3.1 and 4.2 kilometers distant. "Ramon Hill" is furthest southeast of Spirit's landing site and 4.4 kilometers away.