From the Archives, 1981: Space shuttle thunders into new era
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From the Archives, 1981: Space shuttle thunders into new era
40 years ago, Space Shuttle Columbia’s inaugural flight carried the hopes of an embattled space program and of a nation worried that it might have lost its technological touch.
By Mike Steketee
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Space shuttle thunders into new era
From MIKE STEKETEE, Staff Correspondent, at the Kennedy Space Centre
CAPE CANAVERAL, Sunday. Columbia, the first spaceship in a new era of space travel, soared into orbit today to the cheers of millions of Americans.
40th anniversary of first space shuttle orbital mission a bittersweet occasion
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This is an early morning scene at the Kennedy Space Center s Launch Complex 39, with the space shuttle Columbia in position on Pad A at right in March 1981. The shuttle was launched on April 12, 1981, with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen aboard. Photo courtesy of NASA
Space shuttle Columbia lifts off, marking the first shuttle orbital launch, on April 12, 1981, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo
Young (L), the commander, and Crippen, the pilot, were the Columbia crew for the first orbital flight of the space shuttle. Photo courtesy of NASA