The Space Shuttle : A Decade (11 images)

08 MARCH 2001 - KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA: The Space Shuttle Discovery competes with the rising sun as it blasts off from Launch Pad 39B just at dawn on mission STS-102, March 8, 2001, at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Liftoff occurred at 6:42:09 EST for this eighth flight to the International Space Station. rlw/NASA UPI

KSP20021007009 - Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Oct 7 (UPI) -- .The Space Shuttle Atlantis clears the launch pad with an on time launch at 3:45 pm on Oct. 7, 2002, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.ÊOn board are a crew of six astronauts and a truss segment which will be added to the International Space Station later this week. The shuttle is scheduled to dock with the orbiting outpost on Wednesday morning. mk/Marino/Cantrell UPI

WAX2003020127-KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., Feb. 1 (UPI)--The Space Shuttle Columbia, with its distinctive wing pattern as it appeared in the mid 1990s, stands ready for launch in this file photo. Columbia broke apart as it streaked across the Texas sky, enroute to a Florida landing on Feb. 1, 2003. At about 9:00 am NASA lost contact with the orbiter as it flew at about 200,000 feet. All seven crew members were lost. jg/mc/Marino/Cantrell UPI/file.

The Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from Launch Complex 39B on mission STS 114 to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 26, 2005. (UPI Photo/NASA/KSC)