747 and shuttle take off

The first of NASA's two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905, starts an early morning ascent in December 1990 with Columbia on its back. The space agency acquired the jet from American Airlines in 1974 as it progressed toward the first test flights of a space shuttle prototype. (The second aircraft, NASA 911, was acquired from Japan Airlines in 1989 and delivered to the space agency in November 1990.) The Columbia was the debut member of NASA's orbiter fleet, making the first shuttle flight into orbit in April 1981.