50 years of NASA: Shuttle mission photos

Space shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission 41-B on Feb. 3, 1984.  (MIKE SARGENT/ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Challenger lifts off for mission 41-B on Feb. 3, 1984.  (MIKE SARGENT / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off for STS-30 on May 4, 1989.  (S.J. ELY / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Columbia lifts off for STS-28 on Aug. 8, 1989.  (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Columbia lifts off for STS-32 at Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 9, 1990.   (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center the morning of Feb. 28, 1990 on STS-36. After several delays over the past week, the shuttle lifted off around 2:50 a.m. carrying its top-secret payload. The shuttle was seen as far north as Delaware because of its northern launch direction.  (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Discovery lifts off Pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center the morning of Oct. 6, 1990 for STS-41. After six months without a launch, NASA finally gets one off the ground.   (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Atlantis leaves Pad 39A on a secret military mission on Nov. 15, 1990. STS-38.  (BOBBY COKER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Columbia launches on Dec. 2, 1990 for STS-35.  (EILEEN SAMELSON / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Liftoff of the shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-37 on April 5, 1991 in Cape Canaveral, Fla.  (JOHN RAOUX / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Discovery heads skyward on STS-39 on the morning of April 28, 1991.  (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Columbia lifts off on June 5, 1991 for STS-40.  (BOBBY COKER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Atlantis launches for STS-44 on Nov. 24, 1991.  (PHELAN M. EBENHACK / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Photo of STS-49 taken from atop the VAB building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 7, 1992.  (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Columbia launches from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on June 25, 1992 on STS-50.   (RED HUBER / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Columbia watchers line the docks at Rotary Park on US 1 on the Indian River to view the liftoff on Oct. 22, 1992 for STS-52.  (JOHN RAOUX / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

Space shuttle Discovery streaks through the sky - where the bright streak stops is when the solid rocket boosters dropped off - from Kennedy Space Center and can be seen looking east over Lake Shannon in Audubon Park near the naval training center on April 8, 1993. This was a time exposure. STS-56.   (GARY BOGDON / ORLANDO SENTINEL)

The early morning sun colors the Orlando skyline as the shuttle Discovery lifts off from nearby Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 3, 1994 for STS-60. Clear skies provided almost unlimited visibility for most of the state.   (JOE BURBANK / ORLANDO SENTINEL)