Watch the Launch

STS-1

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Test Flight

Low Earth Orbit Launch Complex 39A Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

STS-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of the Space Shuttle Program. The first orbiter Columbia took a 54.5 hour flight and circled the Earth 36 times. This was NASAs first craft to be manned during a testflight. Manned by John Young and Bob Crippen.

Space Shuttle

Family:
Configuration:

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    56.1 m
  • Diameter
    8.0 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    2030.0 T
  • Thrust
    28200.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Space Shuttle
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Space Shuttle
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $450000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    27500.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Space Shuttle Columbia


In-active Human Rated Crew On-board: 2 Crew Capacity: 7 Payload Capacity: 27500 kg
Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Serial Number: OV-102

Space Shuttle Columbia (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first space-rated orbiter in NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. It launched for the first time on mission STS-1 on April 12, 1981, the first flight of the Space Shuttle program. Over 22 years of service, it completed 27 missions before disintegrating during re-entry near the end of its 28th mission, STS-107 on February 1, 2003, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members.

Space Shuttle Details

Crew


John Young

Commander - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Deceased

Date of Birth: Sept. 24, 1930
Date of Death: Jan. 5, 2018

Robert Crippen

Pilot - configurations.Country.None - ( NASA )

Status: Retired

Date of Birth: Sept. 11, 1937
Age: 87

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA)

Administrator: Bill Nelson Founded: 1958 Successes: 121 Failures: 20 Pending: 6

Agency Type:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

INFO WIKI

Related News

Spaceflight Now

April 12 marks 60 years since Gagarin’s spaceflight, 40 years since shuttle debut

Sixty years ago Monday, a 27-year-old Russian test pilot named Yuri Gagarin strapped into a Vostok capsule in Central Asia and rode into orbit atop a launcher derived from a Soviet nuclear missile, becoming the first human to travel into t…

NASA Spaceflight

Roscosmos, NASA celebrate historic launch anniversaries while looking to the future

Today, Roscosmos is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Vostok-1 mission, which launched Yuri Gagarin and the first human spaceflight, while NASA simultaneously commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first launch of the world’s first…

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A


Falcon 9
Success
10 hours, 23 minutes ago
Galileo L13 (FOC FM26 & FM32)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Two satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation system. Originally planned for launch on Soyuz-ST and then Ariane 6 but both were unavailable. Gali…


Angara 1.2
Success
1 day, 2 hours ago
Kosmos 2577 & 2578
35/1 - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

2 Russian military satellites of unknown identities.


Qaem 100
Success
4 days, 3 hours ago
Chamran-1
Launch Platform - Shahrud Missile Test Site, Islamic Republic of Iran

Iranian technological demonstration satellite to test out a propulsion system, with mass of 60 kg.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 7 hours ago
Starlink Group 9-6
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days ago
BlueBird Block 1
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

First five satellites for SpaceMobile’s cellphone-compatible broadband constellation.


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
6 days, 16 hours ago
Soyuz MS-26
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Soyuz MS-26 will carry two cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome i…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Polaris Dawn
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

First mission of the privately funded Polaris program. The goal of this mission, lasting up to five days in orbit, is to fly higher than previous Dra…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
NROL-113
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Third batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to…


Long March 6
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Geely Constellation Group 03
Launch Complex 16 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

10 LEO communications satellites for Chinese car manufacturer Geely Automotive for testing autonomous driving/inter-vehicle communication services. T…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Starlink Group 8-11
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.