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Photos: Space Shuttle, Thirty Years of Spaceflight – Plog

Space shuttle Columbia sits on the launch pad Tuesday, July 20, 1999 as a waterspout appears at left in the backgound at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The flight of Columbia to deploy the Chandra X-ray Observatory during its five day mission was delayed for 48 hours when the orbiter’s hazardous gas detection system indicated a high concentration of hydrogen in Columbia’s aft engine compartment. Following a preliminary evaluation, launch managers concluded the readings were false and rescheduled the launchfor Thursday. Columbia has a crew of five commanded by Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a shuttle flight. The water spout disapated seconds after the photo was taken.