The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia had about a minute to regain control of their craft before it broke apart in 2003, according to a new report released by the US space agency. The final report concluded that although the astronauts tried every possible way to maintain control of the ship, the accident was not survivable.

Columbia disintegrated over East Texas on the morning of Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven crew members – commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. It appears that the cause of the incident was a hole in one of the shuttle’s wings, which was hit by piece of insulating foam. The depressurization of the ship caused the Columbia crew to lose consciousness. "Although circulatory systems functioned for a brief time, the effects of the depressurization were severe enough that the crew could not have regained consciousness," according to the report.

The report also found problems with the individual safety equipment. One astronaut did not have on a helmet, three were not wearing gloves and one was not seated, the report found. Even if the safety gear had worked, the Columbia crew would have died due to the winds and the extreme conditions in the upper atmosphere.

At the same time, the new report indicates "lessons to be learned about how to improve crew survival in the future."

The NASA investigative team is recommending 30 changes based on Columbia, many of them aimed at the spacesuits, helmets and seatbelts for both the shuttle and the next space capsule NASA is building. The investigation was carried out by a multidisciplinary team based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The team released a series of findings and recommendations six weeks after the disaster.