Remembering Columbia tragedy 14 years later

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Today, we remember the seven astronauts killed in the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

It was 14 years ago today that the crew launched, not knowing they would never return.

The space shuttle broke apart during its return to earth over Texas.

An investigation would later determine that tiles damaged during lift-off allowed super-heated atmospheric gasses to penetrate the shuttle's wing during re-entry, causing the ship to become unstable and quickly disintegrate.