1982 – The space shuttle Colombia (STS-3) lifted off from Cape Canaveral on its third flight, and only the third mission of the space shuttle program, on this date. Despite a one hour delay due to failure of a nitrogen gas ground support line heater, the mission was successfully completed and demonstrated a safe orbiter re-launch and return. The crew members onboard were pilot C. Gordon Fullerton and Commander Jack R. Lousma.  Their journey lasted eight days, landing in White Sands, New Mexico on March 30 and returning to Kennedy Space Center on April 6. Columbia would go on to fly 28 missions, logging over 125million miles before being lost during reentry on February 1, 2003.