Columbia’s gutsy twosome on the maiden voyage of a shuttle orbiter: Commander John Young (left) and Pilot Robert Crippen. Credit: NASA
There’s a first time for everything: john young & bob crippen
In 1981, NASA was preparing to
launch its next generation spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, for first time
ever. All previous manned spacecraft were tested unmanned before
allowing a crew on board. But NASA
was putting a crew on the maiden
flight of Columbia and that crew
would be another all Navy crew. The
primary mission objectives for STS-1
were to accomplish a safe ascent
into orbit, check out all the systems
on the orbiter and to return to Earth
for a safe landing. This would also be
the first time a manned spacecraft
launched with Solid Rocket Boosters.
The commander of STS-1, John
Young, was again from the Navy,
and another pilot. John attended
the Georgia Institute of Technology where he earned a bachelor
of science degree in aeronautical engineering before entering
the Navy. He was a veteran of four
spaceflights prior to STS-1, including the first manned Gemini mission,
12
12
Gemini 3, where he operated the first
computer ever used on a manned
spacecraft. He took the Commander’s seat on Gemini 10 where he and
Pilot Mike Collins completed multiple
rendezvous with t