STS-135 crew module camera: astronauts rocket off the launch pad

VIDEO: The winged spaceship Columbia returned to Earth with a pinpoint landing at Edwards Air Force Base on this day 35 years ago, concluding the maiden flight of the space shuttle.

Thirty years after the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated in the clear, cold sky high above Cape Canaveral, the commander’s widow no longer feels anger at NASA and the management missteps and schedule pressure that kept the orbiters flying despite a fatal flaw in their solid-fuel boosters.

An Atlas 5 rocket lifts off in the early morning Sun from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral carrying a top secret satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. (Membership required)