The space shuttle Columbia is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, becoming the first reusable manned spacecraft to travel into space. Piloted by astronauts Robert L. Crippen and John W. Young, the Columbia undertook a 54-hour space flight of 36 orbits before successfully touching down at California’s Edwards Air Force Base on April 14. Show On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveiled its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade. In 1977, the Enterprise became the first space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000 feet by a Boeing 747 airplane and then released, gliding back to Edwards Air Force Base on its own accord. Regular flights of the space shuttle began on April 12, 1981, with the launching of Columbia. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and an external tank, only the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth. When the mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments. On January 28, 1986, NASA and the space shuttle program suffered a major setback when the Challenger exploded 74 seconds after takeoff and all seven people aboard were killed. In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery. In subsequent years, the space shuttle carried out numerous important missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction and manning of the International Space Station. A tragedy in space again rocked the nation on February 1, 2003, when Columbia, on its 28th mission, disintegrated during re-entry of the earth’s atmosphere. All seven astronauts aboard were killed. In the aftermath, the space-shuttle program was grounded until Discovery returned to space in July 2005, amid concerns that the problems that had downed Columbia had not yet been fully solved. READ MORE: Space Exploration: Timeline and Technology
On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveils its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade. In 1977, the Enterprise became the first space shuttle to fly freely when it was lifted to a height of 25,000 feet by a Boeing 747 airplane and then released, gliding back to Edwards Air Force Base on its own accord. Regular flights of the space shuttle began on April 12, 1981, with the launching of Columbia from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Launched by two solid-rocket boosters and an external tank, only the aircraft-like shuttle entered into orbit around Earth. When the two-day mission was completed, the shuttle fired engines to reduce speed and, after descending through the atmosphere, landed like a glider at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. Early shuttles took satellite equipment into space and carried out various scientific experiments. On January 28, 1986, NASA and the space shuttle program suffered a major setback when the Challenger exploded 74 seconds after takeoff and all seven people aboard were killed. In September 1988, space shuttle flights resumed with the successful launching of the Discovery. Since then, the space shuttle has carried out numerous important missions, such as the repair and maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction and manning of the International Space Station.A tragedy in space again rocked the nation on February 1, 2003, when Columbia, on its 28th mission, disintegrated during re-entry of the earth’s atmosphere. All seven astronauts aboard were killed. In the aftermath, the space-shuttle program was grounded until Discovery returned to space in July 2005, amid concerns that the problems that had downed Columbia had not yet been fully solved. NASA’s final space shuttle mission came to an end in July, 2011. On April 12, 1981, NASA launched the first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1), into space. The first reusable orbiter, Space Shuttle Columbia orbited Earth 37 times on its maiden voyage and returned on April 14, 1981, 54.5 hours later its launch. Today’s (April 11) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history. Video: First Space Shuttle Launch: STS-1 (1981), ColumbiaOn April 12, 1981, NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia, attached to an external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, lifted off on the first shuttle mission, STS-1, at 7 a.m. Eastern, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The orbiter carried a crew of two: mission commander John W. Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018) and pilot Robert L. Crippen (born September 11, 1937). The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, Vostok 1, performed by Yuri Gagarin for the USSR. STS-1 was Young’s fifth spaceflight. His previous missions included Gemini 3 and 10, and Apollo 10 and 16. Young walked on the Moon during Apollo 16. It was the first spaceflight of Crippen. Later, he traveled into space three times, as the Commander of STS-7 in June 1983, STS-41-C in April 1984, and STS-41-G in October 1984. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdKltNx42AQ The first Space Shuttle launch: STS-1 was the first orbital flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle, launched on April 12, 1981, and returning to Earth on April 14. Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the Earth 37 times in this 54.5-hour mission. It was the first American crewed space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project on 15 July 1975. The STS-1 was the only US crewed maiden test flight of a new spacecraft system, although it was the culmination of atmospheric testing of the Space Shuttle orbiter.The first space shuttle mission, STS-1 was a pure test mission to prove the shuttle system would work. The astronauts’ job was to launch, get to orbit, check out all the systems on the spacecraft, and bring it in safely for a landing. Crippen recalls: “We didn’t carry any satellites, or things of that nature. We carried a lot of special recording equipment. Our job, basically, was just to make sure that the vehicle would do what we wanted it to do. And it lived up to all of our objectives.” “It was probably one of the most exciting things in my life,” Crippen says. Space Shuttle Columbia Columbia was the first space shuttle to be manufactured and flown into space. It was named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the female personification of the United States. During its 22 years of operation, Space Shuttle Columbia:
Unfortunately, on February 1, 2003, Columbia was destroyed during re-entry and all seven astronauts on board were killed. The Space Shuttle program finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011, retiring the final Space Shuttle in the fleet. Upon retiring, the space shuttle’s 135 missions flew 355 astronauts from the U.S. and 60 different countries into space. April 12 in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration historyRelated: How to land the Space Shuttle… from space? Amazing video Sources
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