STS-50 Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102, lifts off from KSC LC Pad 39A
Description: STS-50 Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39A at 12:12:23:0534 pm (Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)). An exhaust cloud covers the launch pad area as OV-102, atop its external tank (ET) and flanked by two solid rocket boosters (SRBs), clears the launch tower and heads on its way toward a scheduled record 13-day mission in Earth orbit. OV-102 is NASA's first extended duration orbiter (EDO). The diamond shock effect is visible at OV-102's three space shuttle main engines (SSMEs).
