The Columbia Accident Investigation Board's final report on the causes of the loss of the shuttle and its crew on February 1, 2003.

The Board crafted the report to serve as a framework for a national debate about the future of human space flight, but suggests that it is in the United State's interest to replace the Shuttle as soon as possible as the primary means for transporting humans to and from Earth orbit.

The Board makes 29 recommendations in the final report, including 15 return-to-flight recommendations that should be implemented before the Shuttle Program returns to flight.

The report, which consists of 11 chapters grouped into three main sections, was the result of a seven-month-long investigation by the 13 board members, more than 120 investigators, 400 NASA and contractor employees, and more than 25,000 searchers who recovered Columbia's debris.

264 pages.

A bonus CD-ROM features video clips used in the investigation, plus over 700 pages of additional material, including the original Press Kit, the official NASA response to the Gehman Report and NASA's plan for implementing a return to flight.