IMAGE 100_199\175.Lbm,The space shuttle in the configuration in which it leaves the launch pad, with the orbiter atop the external fuel tank, to which the SRBs are attached.
IMAGE 300_399\358.Lbm,A shuttle external tank being transferred into the VAB.
IMAGE 1900_99\991.Lbm,The pristine external tank for STS-1, ready for mating with the rest of the shuttle stack. Only on this mission and STS-2 were the tanks painted white.
IMAGE 1900_99\992.Lbm,The external tank for STS-3 arrives at the Kennedy Space Center. Unlike the tanks for the two previous flights, this one is left unpainted, as have been all tanks since.
IMAGE 0_99\88.Lbm,Two minutes after the shuttle lifts off, the SRBs are cut loose from the external tank, leaving the orbiter's main engines to power it into space.