The shuttle Atlantis has just launched, with six more shuttle missions to go before NASA retires the fleet.

So help me, ever since Jan. 28, 1986, I still freeze at the 73-second mark of these shuttle flights. That’s when the mission communicator tells the shuttle, “Go at throttle up.”

It was at that point during that January launch nearly 24 years ago that the shuttle Challenger blew up, killing all seven astronauts on board and sending the nation into a prolonged period of profound grief over its loss.

Atlantis has entered orbit. All is well. And I’ve cleared the lump in my throat.

It will return at the end of the mission, when the ship re-enters the atmosphere en route home. History reminds us that on Feb. 1, 2003, Amarillo’s very own Rick Husband and his crew died when the shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas on its way home.

These space flights perhaps have bored millions of Americans. That’s too bad. They surely are never “routine.”

Godspeed, crew of Atlantis.