IMAGE 400_499\454.Lbm,Emblem for STS-1, Columbia, April 1981: Young, Crippen. First space shuttle mission.
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 800_899\875.Lbm,STS-1 astronauts John Young (left) and Robert Crippen take part in emergency escape training on the pad at the Kennedy Space Center.
IMAGE 800_899\839.Lbm,It is November 1980, and Columbia is in place on the shuttle stack, mated with SRBs and external tank, and ready for roll-out from the VAB.
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 1700_99\772.Lbm,The massive crawler transporter struggles up the slope of the launch pad with its heavy load. (STS-1)
IMAGE 500_599\587.Lbm,The press site at Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center on the occasion of the first flight of Columbia and the space shuttle, April 12, 1981.
IMAGE 900_999\904.Lbm,Dawn on the morning of the first shuttle lift-off (STS-1). Photographers are ready at the press site.
IMAGE 900_999\905.Lbm,About 3,000 journalists and photographers have gathered at the press site at the Kennedy Space Center to witness the excitement of the first shuttle lift-off (STS-1).
IMAGE 600_699\646.Lbm,The countdown clock at the press site at Kennedy Space Center showing just over 7 minutes before the launch of the first space shuttle (STS-1). The tension is tangible.
IMAGE 900_999\906.Lbm,Thirty seconds to go before the first shuttle lift-off (STS-1). Columbia is now under the control of on-board computers which are completing the automatic firing sequence.
IMAGE 0_99\43.Lbm,Producing a thrust of some 3,000 tonnes, the space shuttle blasts off the pad at the Kennedy Space Center on its maiden launch on April 12, 1981. The orbiter is Columbia.
IMAGE 0_99\31.Lbm,The recovery ship Liberty tows one of the SRBs towards Cape Canaveral after the first shuttle mission on April 13, 1981.
IMAGE 0_99\30.Lbm,John Young pictured inside the cockpit of Columbia on April 12, 1981, during the first highly successful 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.
