The rendezvous pitch maneuver was developed by NASA engineers Steve Walker, Mark Schrock and Jessica LoPresti after the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster. "Columbia" had sustained damage to its heat shield due to insulating foam breaking off the external tank and hitting the shield at liftoff. The damage was too great for the heat shield to protect the shuttle from the heat and structural strain of atmospheric reentry, causing it to break apart. For this reason, the integrity of the heat shield had been a critical concern of NASA ever since. The maneuver was first performed by Mission Commander Eileen Collins on STS-114, which was one of Space Shuttle "Discovery"s two "Return To Flight" missions after the "Columbia" STS-107 disaster.