This is an early morning scene at the Kennedy Space Center launch complex, with the Columbia spacecraft at position A on the right A in March 1981. The shuttle was launched on April 12, 1981, and was attended by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. Photo courtesy of NASA
The Columbia space shuttle took off, marking the shuttle’s first orbital launch, on April 12, 1981, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
Young (L), the commander, and Crippen, the pilot, were the crew of Colombia for the first orbital flight of the space shuttle. Photo courtesy of NASA
The entrance to the “Rubber Room” under the 39A launch complex has been opening for 32 years since NASA launched the Columbia spacecraft on its first voyage. The space agency is making final preparations to close the pillow at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 12, 2013. Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell / UPI | Photo License
This is a view inside the “Rubber Room” below the 39A launch complex, which could protect astronauts and technicians from the Apollo era from danger on the ground during launch operations. Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell / UPI | Photo License
The Columbia spacecraft soared from launch pad 39A at 2:02 p.m. EDT on July 1, 1997, to begin the 16-day STS-94 Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 mission. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
On July 23, 1999, Colombia set off from launch pad 39B on a five-day mission. The plan was to release the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which will allow scientists from around the world to study some of the most distant, powerful and dynamic objects in space. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is located in the payload area in Colombia. The most powerful X-ray telescope in the world, Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and clouds of high-temperature gases, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite books on the structure and evolution of our universe. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
The crew of the Columbia STS-93 mission, including Eileen Collins – the first woman to serve as commander – waved to the media on their way to the launch pad on July 22, 1999. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
Engineers are investigating the possibility that a 7/8-inch gold-plated liquid oxygen plug was squeezed out and created three small holes in the liquid hydrogen pipes inside the nozzle on Colombia’s No. 3 main engine. The holes caused a hydrogen leak during the launch of STS-93 in Colombia on July 23, 1999. It was the 26th launch of a spacecraft. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
Colombia, with its parachute withdrawn, lands on runway 33 at the landing facility on July 27, 1999, after a successful mission of almost five days and 1.8 million miles. This was the 95th flight in the Space Shuttle program and the 26th for Columbia. The landing was the 19th consecutive landing of the Shuttle in Florida and the 12th night landing in the history of the Shuttle program. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
President George W. Bush met with the Colombian crew at the Oval Office in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2002. Completing a service to service the Hubble Space Telescope in March, the crew shared stories and images with Bush. Official photo of the White House Paul Morse Photo License
Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia took this image on mission STS-107, which shows the sun’s radiation above the Earth’s horizon on February 1, 2003. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
This is the STS-107 crew from Colombia: David Brown (L to R), Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William C. McCool and Ilan Ramon, from Israel. All seven astronauts were killed in the ship when the flames broke out over Texas as it headed for its landing strip on February 1, 2003. Photo courtesy of NASA | Photo License
An Israeli vendor in Jerusalem sold the Jerusalem Post on February 2, 2003, with photos of the lost Columbia crew, including Israel’s first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon, who crashed when the Columbia space shuttle crashed over Texas, killing him and six other astronauts. Photo by Debbie Hill / UPI | Photo License
Larry Epps stands where he was the day before when a piece of Columbia landed near him in Nacogdoches, Texas, on Feb. 2, 2003. Epps said the piece landed about 15 feet from him, making an impression on the ground and then coming to rest. Photo by Joe Mitchell / UPI | Photo License
Seven American flags were hoisted at a memorial in the parking lot where a piece of the Columbia Space Shuttle rested in Nacogdoches, Texas, February 2, 2003. Photo by Joe Mitchell / UPI | Photo License
Police officers follow workers removing pieces of Columbia from the Douglass School District school area in Douglass, Texas, February 3, 2003. Photo by Joe Mitchell / UPI | Photo License
The U.S. Navy’s ceremonial guard bends a flag covering the remains of NASA astronaut and Navy captain Laurel Clark, a member of the Colombian crew, at Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, VA, on March 10, 2003. Clark was laid to rest near a space memorial to astronauts. ship Challenger. US Navy Photo: Shane T. McCoy | Photo License
Gladys Findlay, chief tailor at Liebe Co., sews the Colombian insignia on the sleeve of the Houston Astrosa home uniform, in Chesterfield, Mo., March 17, 2003. on re-entry. Photo by Bill Greenblatt / UPI | Photo License
A plaque commemorating the astronauts killed in the crash in Colombia was placed on the back of a highly amplified Mars Exploration Rover Spirit antenna. The plaque was designed by Mars Exploration Rover engineers. The astronauts were also honored by the new name of the rover landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station. This image was taken by a navigation camera on Spirit on Mars. Photo courtesy of NASA / JPL Photo License