Astronomy Week
The first week of April is Astronomy Week. To celebrate, we’ll explore the history of some notable aeronautical events in April:
Space Shuttle Columbia First Launch:
The Columbia was a NASA space shuttle. It was the first space-rated orbiter, which meant it was a ship that could travel to and from space multiple times. This is compared to earlier orbiters like the Enterprise, which were made from modified planes and could not actually go to space. Columbia conducted many missions in low earth orbit (LEO), a term for the space beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, but still within its gravitational pull. On April 12th, 1981, the Columbia was launched for the first time. The mission, codenamed STS-1, was crewed by John Young and Robert Crippen. The Columbia returned to Earth on April 14th, orbiting the earth 37 times during its 54.5-hour flight.
The STS-1 was a flight of many firsts: It was the first flight of the first space-rated orbiter, as mentioned previously. It was the first use of solid-fuel rockets in a manned launch. It was the most advanced spacecraft ever built at the time. And, it was conducted on the 20th anniversary of the first spaceflight ever. As a result, the day, April 12th, became an international space holiday known as Yuri’s Night, after Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.
by Kavya Seth