When was the first launch of the first shuttle (the Columbia) ?”
The Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster happend on Saturday 1st, February, 2003 and was the second Space Shuttle Disaster and the first shuttle lost on landing. There was shock around the world over the tragedy. Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on January 16th, 2003 at 9.39am CST. Columbia (Flight STS-107) was on a 16-day science research mission in Earth orbit which performed experiments in space. It was the 113th mission. Columbia was the oldest space shuttle in the fleet of four. It was the first space shuttle to be launched in Earth orbit in 1981. The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia consisted of 7 astronauts: – Rick D. Husband – Commander – William C. McCool – Pilot – Michael P. Anderson – David M. Brown – Kalpana Chawla – Laurel Clark – Ilan Ramon – first Israeli in space Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster Events 7-8 minutes before the failure, gauges started to loose readings in Columbia’s left wing, left landing gear brake system and tyre. 7.59am (CST) temperature and pressure gauges
STS-1 was the first flight of the Space Shuttle program, launched on April 12, 1981, and returning to Earth April 14. Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the earth 37 times in this 54.5-hour mission. It was the first US manned space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project on July 15, 1975, and the first (and so far only) manned maiden test flight of a new spacecraft system. All Space Shuttle flights are referenced by their sequential chronological number, prefaced by the acronym “STS”, which stands for “Space Transportation System”, the official name of the Space Shuttle.
Explanation: On April 12, 1981, twenty years ago today, the Space Shuttle Columbia became the first shuttle to orbit the Earth. In this gorgeous time exposure, flood lights play on the Columbia and service structures (left) as it rests atop Complex 39’s Pad A at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for first launch. Flown by Commander John W. Young and Pilot Robert L. Crippen, Columbia spent 2 days aloft on its check-out mission, STS-1, which ended in a smooth landing, airplane-style, at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Ferried back to Kennedy by a modified Boeing 747, Columbia was launched again seven months later on STS-2, becoming the first piloted reuseable orbiter. The oldest operating shuttle, Columbia’s 1981 debut was followed by shuttles Challenger in 1982 (destroyed in 1986).
