The space shuttle Columbia was first launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on this day in 1981 — 40 years ago — 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.
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 with flight of Columbia on April 12, 1981.
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.
In the above photo, Warren Jones and Frank Beacham at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral shooting video for NBC News as the first space shuttle was rolled out to the launch pad.
Photo by Ron Lindsey
Thanks History.com
Kennedy Space Center in early 1981. John Young, the first commander of a space shuttle flight, holds a press interview in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Frank Beacham, on the left, records sound for the interview for NBC.
Young went on to become the ninth person to walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.
He had the longest career of any astronaut, becoming the first person to make six space flights, over the course of 42 years of active NASA service, and is the only person to have piloted four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command/Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module and the Space Shuttle.
In 1965, Young flew on the first manned Gemini mission, and in 1969 was the first person to orbit the moon alone during Apollo 10. He is one of only three persons who twice journeyed to the Moon, and drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon's surface.
He also commanded two Space Shuttle flights, including its first launch in 1981, and served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1974–1987.
Young retired from NASA in 2004. He died on January 5, 2018 at age 87.
Frank Beacham at the Kennedy Space Center in early 1981 just before the first Space Shuttle launch, 40 years ago today
All photos by Ron Lindsey