OTD…Oct. 3 and STS-51J

Today in 1986…Space shuttle Challenger and her seven astronaut crew were lost during launch.

#OTD in 2012…Shuttle reaches retirement roost in sunny SoCal

America’s first space shuttle launched on this day 35 years ago as the reusable flying machine, Columbia, lifted off from Kennedy Space Center with John Young and Bob Crippen aboard.