Crewed spacecraftExpended
STS-1 flight stack
Mission-specific Space Shuttle flight stack
Vehicle and mission dossier
STS-1
STS-1 was the first orbital flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the first crewed flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. John Young and Robert Crippen launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981, tested the new reusable in space, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14 after proving the shuttle's basic ascent, orbital, entry, and runway-landing profile.
Flight profile
- Launch
- April 12, 1981
- Landing
- April 14, 1981
- Mission duration
- 2 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes, 53 seconds
- Orbits
- 36
- Inclination
- 40.3 degrees
Places and recovery
Vehicle record
- Orbiter
- Space Shuttle Columbia
- Mission or test
- STS-1
- Configuration
- Orbiter, external tank, two , and three main engines
- Status
- Mission hardware disposition recorded by component
- Mission type
- Orbital
- Crew and station travelers
- 2
Flight objectives
- Launch Columbia safely into on the first orbital Space Shuttle test flight.
- Verify systems during ascent, orbit, entry, and runway landing.
- Collect development flight instrumentation data on vehicle performance and flight loads.
- Return Columbia and crew safely to Earth for post-flight inspection and reuse analysis.
Flight timeline
- April 10, 1981Launch scrubThe first launch attempt was scrubbed because of a timing problem between Columbia's primary computers and backup flight software.
- April 12, 1981LaunchColumbia launched from Kennedy Space Center on the first orbital Space Shuttle mission.
- April 12-14, 1981Orbital test flightThe crew operated Columbia in orbit while flight instrumentation recorded the 's performance.
- April 14, 1981LandingColumbia landed at Edwards Air Force Base, completing the first orbital flight of the Space Shuttle program.
