Space Shuttle Columbia Liftoff

The Space Shuttle Columbia passes through some predawn clouds as it soars into the sky to begin its 27th flight, STS-109. Liftoff occurred at 6:22:02:08 a.m., EST (11:22:02:08 GMT) on March 1, 2002. The goal of the mission was the maintenance and upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope, to be carried out in five spacewalks. Aboard the shuttle were astronauts Scott D. Altman, Duane G. Carey, Nancy J. Currie, John M. Grunsfeld, James H. Newman, Richard M. Linnehan, and Michael J. Massimino.