the space shuttle "columbia" (ov-102)was a spacecraft used by nasa to fly into outer space. it was the first space shuttle to fly into space, on april 12, 1981. it broke apart while re-entering the earth's atmosphere on february 1, 2003, killing all seven people who were on it at the time. the shuttle flew a total of 28 missions. the columbia was named after a us navy ship that circumnavigated the world in 1836. it was also the name of the apollo 11 lunar excursion module.