This unique look at the underside of the Space Shuttle Columbia in flight was provided by a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter aircraft and the Ames Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Flying parallel to Columbia's flight path at an altitude of approximately 41,000 feet, the aircraft's infrared imagery system was using a 36-inch telescope to follow the spacecraft, which was at about 185,000 feet when the imagery was recorded. The purpose of the system is to gather high resolution temperature data of the thermal protection system (TPS) during its transitional phase (not peak or turbulent flow phase) about 16.5 minutes after Columbia begins entry into Earth's atmosphere. Exposure time was 4/1000 of a second (or four milliseconds). This image shows the port or commander's side of the spacecraft. Astronauts Jack R. Lousma and C. Gordon Fullerton were aboard the shuttle for eight days in March of 1982.