SPACE EXPLORATION
MAY 11, 2021
space shuttle columbia : the first NASA shuttle mission
The launch of space shuttle Columbia marked the beginning of re-useable spacecraft, changing space travel forever.
The Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was launched on April 12, 1981 from Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle was manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. The STS-1 was the first mission of NASA shuttle space programs that lasted for 30 years after that.
Columbia roared off launch pad 39 A at 7 AM with astronaut John Young of Orlando and Robert Crippen aboard. The two days of delay made the flight launched exactly 20 years after the Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly into space on April 12, 1961.
Two days after the launch, space shuttle Columbia safely landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Commander Young and pilot Crippen returned after 36 orbits around the Earth, showing that mission STS-1 was a success.
This debut mission would be the first of 135 shuttle program that ended up on July 21, 2011. The day when shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center.
The name Columbia was chosen to represent the United States and “Columbia” is often used to represent the United States in manufactured things. It’s derived from Christopher Columbus, the name of explorer of the New World called the Americas.
With this name NASA wants to show that the space shuttle is a new ship that discovers and explores the new world – outer space.
Columbia was the first space shuttle launched by NASA, the next following space shuttles are : Challenger, Enterprise, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.
On February 1, 2003 the space shuttle Columbia came to a tragic end. The shuttle was destroyed as it reentered the atmosphere during its return flight to Earth, killing all seven crew members on board. It was at the end of its 28th mission.
The disaster was the second fatal accident in the NASA Space Shuttle program. Before that on January 28, 1986 space shuttle Challenger exploded not long after liftoff.
During its 30 years space shuttle programs, more than 350 astronauts from 16 countries flew 852 times on five shuttles. The space shuttles traveled over 542 million miles with various scientific experiments on it, to better understand of the world beyond our Earth and Universe.
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