An iconic shot of Columbia standing on the pad prior to its launch on the first-ever shuttle mission, STS-01, in April of 1981. Notice anything different about the Columbia‘s appearance compared to more recent shuttle stacks?

The external fuel tank was only painted white for the first two missions before the engineers realized they could save several hundred pounds in weight by leaving it off. The more familiar orange coloration is the natural appearance of the spray-on insulation that coats the tanks. It’s funny, though… the painted tank was only used for two out of 135 missions, and 30 years ago to boot, but this is how I imagine space shuttles — spaceships in general, really — ought to look: clean and white, sparkling beneath the sun (or the floodlights, as the case may be). In fact, I was kind of hoping the paint might make a return for the final launch, just to bring everything full circle, but I suppose engineers aren’t as sentimental about such things.

Incidentally, it’s starting to look as if the final launch might be delayed. The forecasts are showing only a 30% possibility of favorable weather tomorrow, and I’ve just read of a lightning strike this morning within a third of a mile of the pad, which may have damaged Atlantis or the equipment around the pad itself…

Photo source.