NASA Original Color Photo — Space Shuttle Columbia STS-3 Launch, Kennedy Space Center, March 22, 1982

March 22, 1982: Space Shuttle Columbia clears Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center with commander Jack R. Lousma and pilot C. Gordon Fullerton aboard for STS-3, the program's third crewed mission. The image catches the stack at the instant of tower clearance — twin solid rocket boosters still mated, the main engine plume and SRB exhaust billowing across the pad structure, the fixed service structure framed against a smoke-streaked sky. Most immediately identifiable for collectors: this is the first flight on which the external tank was left unpainted, its insulating foam appearing in the characteristic dark burnt-orange that would define every Shuttle launch image from STS-3 onward. Columbia and crew reached orbit approximately ten minutes after liftoff, bound for seven days of orbital operations.

The print is on Kodak photographic paper, the verso carrying the repeating "THIS PAPER MANUFACTURED BY KODAK" watermark standard to period NASA press and archival distribution prints. A single-weight glossy on the 8½" × 11" format distributed to press and contractors throughout the early Shuttle program. No printed caption or stamp appears on the verso — the image is identified by NASA credit and mission record. Credit: NASA.

CONDITION

Very Good. Bright color with strong warm-toned saturation and good gloss retention. Light handling to the edges and a faint horizontal crease through the lower verso; one small spot of foxing to the upper verso. No tears or surface abrasion to the image face.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Image/Sheet: 8½" × 11"
• Medium: Vintage chromogenic color print
• Paper: Kodak (verso watermark confirmed)
• Mission: STS-3, Space Shuttle Columbia
• Launch Site: Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
• Date: March 22, 1982
• Crew: Jack R. Lousma (Commander), C. Gordon Fullerton (Pilot)
• Credit: NASA