OTD In Space - October. 7: STS-112 Launches To The International Space Station

On Oct. 7, 2002, the space shuttle Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-112.

This mission brought the Starboard 1 (S1) truss segment to the International Space Station. The S1 truss is part of the backbone of the space station, and it provides structural support for the thermal control system. During the launch, a chunk of insulating foam broke off of the external tank and hit the bottom of the rocket booster, leaving a huge dent. Luckily this didn't pose any problems for STS-112, but this was the same thing that caused the Columbia disaster just three months later. NASA later redesigned the shuttle to prevent this problem.