Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 12, 1981. The mission marked many firsts for space exploration, including proving the reusability of a piloted space plane. Columbia would go on to fly a total of 28 missions. But its story ended in tragedy. Seven astronauts were killed when the shuttle broke up on re-entry in 2003.
"We had two terrible tragedies that shouldn't have happened," Bob Crippen, 83, who piloted Columbia, told UPI in a recent interview. "But it was quite a vehicle that allowed us to do some great things in space, bring over 300 people to space -- a much more diverse group of people than ever before. And I'm proud of it."
