[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I'm sometimes amazed any space launch actually works. The number of parts that have to work flawlessly in order for these things not to burn up is pretty staggering. As we saw with Columbia one little O ring and poof.

I know what you're getting at, but it was Challenger that had the problem with the O-rings, and they were anything but little.

Columbia, had wing damage caused by falling insulation.
Of course falling insulation seems like an even more unlikley way for a shuttle to be destroyed. It's amazing how fagile something as important as a heat shield can be.