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

Navigating the 48-mile Panama Canal that slices through the isthmus, the final shipment of a space shuttle external fuel tank emerged into the Pacific for a three-week trek to California.

#OTD…in 1996, Atlantis launched to Russia’s space station Mir

VIDEO: After a cliff-hangar countdown, Atlantis thunders to life and majestically rockets into history, putting on one last sky show for spectators on NASA’s 135th and final shuttle launch on July 7, 2011. (Membership Required)