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Retired U.S. Navy flight surgeon and NASA astronaut Captain Jerry Linenger talks about the awe and peril of space travel. He spent five months on the Russian Space station Mir and wrote about the account in his book, Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir." He described the Mir as "six school buses all hooked together." During his time there, he says, he and fellow crew members had numerous brushes with death, lacked adequate supplies and battled constant system failures. Linenger's new book is Letters from Mir: An Astronaut's Letters to His Son.

NPR's Neda Ulaby has a profile of painter Dan Keplinger. Keplinger has cerebral palsy and was featured in the 1999 Oscar-winning documentary short, King Gimp. Although it's difficult for him to control his movements or speak, he's had several successful shows in New York, and he's completing his second college degree at Towson State University, Md.

Critics have expressed growing concern over NASA's extensive use of outside contractors in its shuttle program. NPR's Howard Berkes talks to host Michele Norris about the program, and about whether the use of contractors may be considered a possible factor in Columbia's failure.

More space shuttle Columbia fragments and human remains are discovered Monday, yet little new information is learned about the cause of Saturday's disaster. Meanwhile, critics express concern over whether NASA's budget cuts and use of contractors may have compromised safety. Hear reports from NPR's Richard Harris, NPR's Howard Berkes and NPR's Chris Joyce.

Initial clues in the investigation of the break-up of the space shuttle Columbia suggest there may have been a problem with the tiles that protect the spacecraft against the heat of re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Meanwhile, searchers are scouring a wide area of East Texas and Louisiana for shuttle wreckage. NPR's Richard Harris and Wade Goodwyn report.

Record companies settle a $67-million class-action lawsuit filed by attorneys general from 41 states, agreeing to pay money to anyone who purchased a CD between 1995 and 2000. The suit alleged that major record labels conspired to keep CD prices artificially high. NPR's Jack Speer reports.

For the past few years, Afghanistan has suffered from ongoing drought. So have the United States, central Asia and southern Europe. As NPR’s Richard Harris reports, new research now links these events -- and suggests global warming is at play.

Space shuttle Columbia breaks into pieces over Texas, killing all seven crew members aboard. President Bush tells the nation the work of the space program will go on. NASA engineers begin the grim task of determining what went wrong. NPR News reports.

Remains have been found from all seven astronauts killed when the space shuttle Columbia broke apart upon re-entry Saturday, NASA officials say. Meanwhile, investigators examine debris scattered over eastern Texas and Louisiana. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep, NPR's Richard Harris and NPR's Wade Goodwyn.

We hear suggestions for President Bush's State of the Union address from several All Things Considered commentators including English Teacher Ray Salazar of Hubbard High School, Chicago, about education; Merrill Matthews, a visiting scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, about health care policy; Cincinnati City Beat Columnist Kathy Y. Wilson, about race relations; and Kurt Campbell, Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, about foreign relations.