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May 20, 2013

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The space shuttle Columbia clears the pad on way to orbit after liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. in this Thursday Jan. 16, 2003 photo. Shortly after Columbia lifted off, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have hit the left wing of the shuttle. Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.

Luis Alvarez / AP

The space shuttle Columbia clears the pad on way to orbit after liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. in this Thursday Jan. 16, 2003 photo. Shortly after Columbia lifted off, a piece of insulating foam on its external fuel tank came off and was believed to have hit the left wing of the shuttle. Leroy Cain, the lead flight director in Mission Control, assured reporters Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, that engineers had concluded that any damage to the wing was considered minor and posed no safety hazard.