LAUNCH – STS-5 – KSC

S82-39532 (11 Nov. 1982) --- Having completed its four-mission test program, the space shuttle Columbia begins a new era of operational flights as it clears the launch tower and heads for Earth orbit. Launch occurred at 7:19 a.m. (EST), November 11, 1982. Aboard the orbiter, mated here to its two solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank, were astronauts Vance D. Brand, STS-5 commander; Robert F. Overmyer, pilot; William B. Lenoir, mission specialist; and Joseph P. Allen, mission specialist. Photo credit: NASA