コロンビア号空中分解事故
About 40% of the content from the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, in which seven astronauts were killed, were recovered, much of it in the form of debris found in and outside Palestine and other East Texas towns. Palestine's NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (renamed in honor of the shuttle crew), has flown 1,700 high-altitude balloons for universities and research agencies.