Fact Sheet
First Flight
With astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen at the controls, space shuttle Columbia heads toward orbit on the first shuttle mission. The launch took place 25 years ago, on April 12, 1981. Despite the success of the two-day mission, the shuttle has not performed as planned. Columbia was destroyed during reentry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003, killing her seven-member crew. [Credit: NASA/KSC]
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