Today In History:  03 October  [1985]   --  The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight.

Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis was the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built.
Atlantis is named after RV Atlantis, a two-masted sailing ship that operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966. The space shuttle is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

PHOTO: Atlantis heads toward Earth orbit at the beginning of STS-132

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.