An unexpected find! In an overlooked box in the utility room were the 35mm film negatives I took of the launch of Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission that launched on 16 January 2003 and broke apart on reentry just 16 minutes from landing at Kennedy Space Center on 1 February 2003. Until now, this is probably the first time these negatives have been touched for over 20 years.

The images were shot with a Minolta 35mm film camera through a 5-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope from somewhere along the shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon in Titusville. I don’t remember exactly where after all this time.

The telescope was difficult to focus with a camera attached and really magnified the haze and atmospheric distortion present that day. Shooting into the glare of the midmorning Sun did not help.

Columbia rolls onto its back putting the astronauts into a heads-down position as the space shuttle heads downrange.

There appears to be thin clouds at altitude plus I either ran out of film or was not able to photograph the separation of the solid rocket boosters for some other reason.

The setup along the Indian River Lagoon that day after the launch. My gear is on the left with the telescope still on the tripod sans camera. That is photographer Bob Killick packing up his gear at right.