Date in year · 2003 · The 2000s

January 16, 2003

On January 16, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. The year's #1 song was "In da Club" by 50 Cent. Jackson Merrill, Xavi Simons, Xavier Worthy would arrive in the same year.

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2003

2000s

Featured · January 16, 2003

The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.

Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and becoming the first spacecraft to be re-used after its first flight when it launched on STS-2 on November 12, 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique external and internal features compared with later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines.

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Around 2003

The year in brief

2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2003rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 3rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2000s decade.

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What happened

On January 16, 2003

  1. 2003 The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.

    Space Shuttle orbiter (1981–2003)

    Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and becoming the first spacecraft to be re-used after its first flight when it launched on STS-2 on November 12, 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique external and internal features compared with later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines.

Farewells

Died on January 16, 2003

Richard Wainwright British politician (1918–2003)

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 2003

The class of 2003

Others born in 2003

Jackson Merrill 2003– American baseball player
Xavi Simons 2003– Dutch footballer
Xavier Worthy 2003– American football player
Emily Carey 2003– British actress
Jung Yun-seok 2003– South Korean actor
Harvey Elliott 2003– English footballer

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