IMAGE 700_799\781.Lbm,Columbia under construction. Technicians at Rockwell International's Downey facility attach heat shield tiles to the underside.
IMAGE 700_799\782.Lbm,John Young, commander of STS-1, enters Columbia as it nears completion. Most of the heat-shield tiles are now in place.
IMAGE 800_899\870.Lbm,Columbia, with most of its tiles in place, is pictured in March 1979 at the Rockwell assembly plant at Palmdale.
IMAGE 800_899\879.Lbm,Nearly completed, Columbia makes its way from the Rockwell assembly plant at Palmdale to the Edwards Air Force Base, from where it will be flown to the Kennedy Space Center.
IMAGE 0_99\28.Lbm,Perched atop the shuttle carrier aircraft, Columbia begins its journey from Edwards Air Force Base to the Kennedy Space Center in March 1979.
IMAGE 600_699\641.Lbm,A special effects photograph showing Columbia in the VAB as preparations begin in 1980 for the following spring's maiden flight of the shuttle.
IMAGE 0_99\65.Lbm,Columbia is lowered on to the shuttle stack in the VAB in preparation for its first flight into orbit.
IMAGE 0_99\64.Lbm,Carried by the massive crawler transporter, the shuttle stack for STS-1 makes its way at about 2 km/h along the crawlerway to the launch pad.
IMAGE 0_99\29.Lbm,Upwards of a million people are gathered in and around the Kennedy Space Center prior to the launch of Columbia on the first shuttle flight on April 12, 1981. In the background is the VAB.
IMAGE 0_99\7.Lbm,Rookie Robert Crippen (left) and veteran John Young familiarize themselves with Columbia before the first shuttle flight (STS-1).
IMAGE 0_99\33.Lbm,This in-orbit picture shows tiles missing from the tail pods of Columbia after its first lift-off on April 12, 1981.
IMAGE 0_99\32.Lbm,On April 14, 1981, John Young brings Columbia down to a perfect landing at Edwards Air Force Base to complete the first shuttle mission.
IMAGE 0_99\70.Lbm,The scene at Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, after the textbook touchdown of Columbia on its first flight (STS-1) on April 14, 1981.
IMAGE 0_99\13.Lbm,On Columbia's mid-deck Richard Truly gets down to some paperwork on the second shuttle mission (STS-2) in November 1981.
IMAGE 800_899\848.Lbm,Columbia leaves billowing clouds of dust in its wake as it makes a perfect landing at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, at the end of STS-3.
IMAGE 0_99\89.Lbm,Spacelab is lowered into the payload bay of Columbia ready for its maiden flight, scheduled for November 1983. At left is the pressurized laboratory; at right the open pallets.
IMAGE 900_999\907.Lbm,A dramatic gantry picture shows Columbia and the STS-2 shuttle stack lifting off the launch pad in November 1981.
IMAGE 600_699\644.Lbm,Columbia arrives at launch pad 39A, where it will be prepared for the first Spacelab launch, STS-9. Note at left the rotating service structure.
IMAGE 700_799\710.Lbm,A battle-scarred Columbia on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base in November 1982 after its fifth mission (STS-5) in 20 months.
IMAGE 1100_99\103.Lbm,Columbia lifts off the launch pad in the early morning of December 2, 1990, on a mission devoted to astrophysics. (STS-35)
