LAUNCH - STS-3 - KSC

S82-28746 (22 March 1982) --- The space shuttle Columbia, with its third crew aboard, two solid rocket boosters (SRB) and external fuel tank (ET) are photographed as they clear the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center?s Launch Complex 39. Astronauts Jack R. Lousma, STS-3 commander, and C. Gordon Fullerton, pilot, were in Earth orbit some ten minutes later looking ahead to seven days of work in space. The external tank is unpainted for the first time, appearing a dark orange in the color photos and dark gray in black and white. Photo credit: NASA