I remember this Sunday morning pretty well. The launch went off before my brother and I had to report to our altar boy duties at the nearby convent. It was exciting to see the first space shuttle finally operate. American efforts in Space had been shelved after the mid Seventies and all NASA had ever done since was demonstrate Enterprise gliding in for a landing in live TV. The Moon landings were hard acts to follow.
Now we’re going back to rockets as the remaining three vehicles will be donated to museums. Maybe I’ll get to see one up close since I figure the Smithsonian will receive either Endeavor, Atlantis or Discovery. I favor the latter because it was the name of the ship in 2001.