ANNOUNCER: Bringing you the news for 20 years, this is CNN.</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: We had been covering the buildup towards return to flight from the day after Challenger exploded, up until they finally flew again. And I recall very, very vividly watching and covering all of the events that surrounded the tests of the new solid rocket boosters out at Morton Thiokol in Utah.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, zero, and liftoff, liftoff! Americans return to space as Discovery clears the tower.</s>ZARRELLA: It was eerie that day because there was a low cloud ceiling over the Kennedy Space Center when they got to launch time. And as they were counting down to launch, literally, just before it was time to lift off, a hole opened up in the clouds. And Discovery streaked up through this hole in the clouds and was gone on its mission, and NASA returned to flight, and the clouds closed back up. It was almost as if, you know, somebody was up there opening the clouds so they could get this vehicle off the ground on that day. And they did. It was, of course, successful, and NASA has been successful ever since with the shuttle program.
CNN 20: America's Return to Space, September 29, 1988