Question

The cause of columbia's breakup during reentry was determined to be

Answer 1

Hey there!

When Columbia re-entered the Earth, the hot gases in the atmosphere (atmospheric gases), they destroyed the wings and it ultimately was destroyed. That technically means that the spacecraft wasn't shielded correctly, and led to a tragedy as well as major rethinking and reform for NASA.

That's why today, you see that all spacecraft are carefully tested and monitored before put into orbit.

Hope this helps!