The Columbia Accident Investigation Board report revealed that the shuttle Atlantis could have been fired into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in an attempt to rescue the doomed astronauts onboard Columbia.

However, no rescue bid was mounted as NASA did not realize how critically Columbia had been damaged.

A rogue piece of foam had pierced Columbia's left wing during take-off Jan 16. As Columbia re-entered the earth's atmosphere Feb 1, super hot gases in the atmosphere subsequently got into the wing and ripped the craft apart.

"The rescue was considered challenging, but feasible," the official CIAB report found.

However, a rescue mission would have had to have been readied by day seven of Columbia's mission in order for Atlantis to have had enough time to reach Columbia as it orbited the earth.

"Accelerated processing of Atlantis might have provided a window in which Atlantis could rendezvous with Columbia before Columbia's limited consumables ran out," the report said.

SPACE.WIRE