Which shuttle flew first

Columbia flew 28 missions in its lifetime, logging more than days in space. In its earliest days, it participated in repairing and deploying satellites and telescopes, but as NASA's priorities changed to science, Columbia flew several productive science missions in the s and s.

Over the years it flew several microgravity laboratory missions and on Feb. However, the tether broke before it had reached the desired distance of In and , though, Columbia shifted operations back into telescope operations. STS was scheduled to fly on Jul. According to NASA, a suspected hydrogen problem scrubbed the initial launch only seven seconds before liftoff, but upon further examination, NASA determined that the high readings were false.

Adjustments in orbit were necessary to bring Columbia to the correct altitude and the crew successfully deployed Chandra during the mission.

Columbia's mission included five spacewalks to service the Hubble Space Telescope; where astronauts replaced an aging power control unit, removed and installed solar arrays and conducted science instrument upgrades. Servicing time hit a record, at the time, of 35 hours and 55 minutes, breaking the previous record of 35 hours and 28 minutes set by Hubble's first servicing mission STS, according to NASA.

Space shuttle Columbia's final flight was STS, a nearly day research mission focusing on scientific experiments.

On Feb. Controllers spent several minutes trying to hail the shuttle as the families of the astronauts waited at the expected landing site at the Kennedy Space Center. As the communications blackout lengthened, and video footage emerged of a large flying object breaking into pieces , it became clear that the crew had not survived.

According to a crew survival report released by NASA in , the crew likely lived through the initial breakup but fell unconscious quickly as the cabin depressurized. They died as the shuttle broke up around them.

This was something that had never before been seen in space program history. In , Enterprise went on a goodwill tour throughout Europe. Then in , the Smithsonian Institution took ownership of Enterprise. Udvar-Hazy Center. During your next visit, be sure to stop by Independence Plaza , where you can explore the shuttle replica Independence and step inside the historic shuttle carrier aircraft NASA , the largest artifact from the Space Shuttle Program on display! A good night's sleep is crucial for a full day of space exploration.

Brand and C. Gordon Fullerton. Young and Crippen are commander and pilot, respectively, for the first OFT mission. Other crews are comprised of Engle, commander, and Truly, pilot; Haise, commander, and Lousma, pilot; Brand, commander, and Fullerton, pilot. The space shuttle Columbia riding "piggyback" on NASA , a carrier aircraft, is only seconds away from landing on Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle landing facility, ending a 2,mile ferry flight from California on March 24, Young, left, commander, and Robert L.

Crippen, pilot, will man the space shuttle orbiter Columbia for the first orbital flight test. The shuttle launched into space on April 12, Credit: NASA. Bisney's book, which he co-authored with J. Pickering, instead offers a unique view into the early development of the shuttle, the world's first reusable spacecraft, with a wealth of outlandish sketches and drawings of alternative designs -- some of which still look remarkably futuristic.

The Columbia in , ready to fly piggyback on a Boeing , formerly owned by American Airlines hence the livery. Some of its tiles were damaged, as visible, during a previous test flight on the back of the plane. Instead, the booster rockets splashed into the ocean after detaching from the shuttle, to be recovered and refurbished. A modern rocket like SpaceX's Falcon Heavy has booster rockets that can autonomously descend back to Earth and land.

The shuttle -- officially called STS, or Space Transportation System -- first flew into space on April 12, , with the distinction of having not been tested with an unmanned launch first. The book's timeline ends after the fourth space shuttle mission, a test flight that paved the way for operational missions.

Many of the photos come from Pickering's personal archive, one of the world's largest private collections of manned spaceflight images.