Witness the liftoff and landing of Columbia, the first shuttle to reach space, crewed by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, 1981
The launch and landing in 1981 of the first orbital flight of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia, manned by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: The years of research and development would now be put to the ultimate test: the first flight into space of shuttle Columbia with astronauts at the controls. There was an air of excitement as the brand new shuttle moved from its processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center to the vehicle assembly building where it would be mated with rockets and fuel tank and rolled out to the launch pad.
Never before had a new spacecraft been flown this way. Previous Mercury, Gemini, and Apollos were man-rated in advance, meaning that unmanned flights were flown before putting an astronaut crew onboard. Despite nagging problems with engines and protective tiles, there was a quiet optimism.
Longtime space workers knew from past experience with the lunar landing program that design and engineering problems do get worked out [applause]. After one false start, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen headed for the launch pad.
BACKGROUND VOICE: 30 seconds. ...it goes into the interior. And the astronauts . . .
NARRATOR: Columbia's maiden flight would be brief. Just 54 and a half hours, 36 orbits and return to Earth. But it signaled the beginning of a reusable space transportation system.
VOICE FROM CONTROL CENTER: . . . minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, . . .
[Applause]
[Music out]
NARRATOR: The years of research and development would now be put to the ultimate test: the first flight into space of shuttle Columbia with astronauts at the controls. There was an air of excitement as the brand new shuttle moved from its processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center to the vehicle assembly building where it would be mated with rockets and fuel tank and rolled out to the launch pad.
Never before had a new spacecraft been flown this way. Previous Mercury, Gemini, and Apollos were man-rated in advance, meaning that unmanned flights were flown before putting an astronaut crew onboard. Despite nagging problems with engines and protective tiles, there was a quiet optimism.
Longtime space workers knew from past experience with the lunar landing program that design and engineering problems do get worked out [applause]. After one false start, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen headed for the launch pad.
BACKGROUND VOICE: 30 seconds. ...it goes into the interior. And the astronauts . . .
NARRATOR: Columbia's maiden flight would be brief. Just 54 and a half hours, 36 orbits and return to Earth. But it signaled the beginning of a reusable space transportation system.
VOICE FROM CONTROL CENTER: . . . minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, . . .
[Applause]
[Music out]