April 14, 1981: Landing of Columbia on STS-1

#OTD…Launch of Columbia in 1993 on the second flight of the German Spacelab

Studying the atmosphere as part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth was the objective of shuttle Atlantis’ STS-45 mission in March 1992.

On the 35th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch, the last remaining external fuel tank set sail today from its factory in New Orleans to Los Angeles and a remarkable museum attraction in the making.