What was the first orbital space shuttle?
STS-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on 12 April 1981 and returned on 14 April, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times. Columbia carried a crew of two – mission commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen
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What are your thoughts on this subject?
9 Comments
William Laughlin
Vasily Tchaikovsky,
Like it or not, Gagarin in his Vostok spacecraft completed only a single orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961. He did not pilot a shuttle designed for smooth landings and multiple usage.
John Williams
The first Shuttle was actually called Enterprise after the name of the starship from Star Trek. During its unveiling, the cast of the show as well as Gene Roddenberry were present. However it was never put into orbit. It did a test flight off the back of the 747 that was used to ferry the shuttles from where they landed to The Kennedy Space Center
John Rechtin
Actuall it was Enterprise , and the question should have stated which orbiter was the first shuttle to go into space.
George Oliver Prince
Helps to have been around then
Joseph A. Robitaille
Great event and a huge space ship.
Fred Zeb Fudpucker
Vasily Tchaikovsky, sorry you feel the need to defend the USSR HERE!
Marian Spitzig
I remember it well... should as I remember listening to John Glenn’s First flight on the radio in elementary school.
omnipotent
As I remember the Enterprise was the 1st shuttle, the fact that they never launched it is immaterial.
Peggy Brown
I got it right