What was the first Space Shuttle mission, launched in April 1981? STS-1 was the first Space Shuttle mission.
Columbia lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on April 12, 1981, carrying Commander John Young and Pilot Robert Crippen. The two-day, six-hour flight was the first orbital test of NASA’s reusable Space Transportation System, combining the orbiter, external tank and twin solid rocket boosters.
STS-1’s primary goal was straightforward but extremely demanding: demonstrate that the shuttle could launch into orbit and return safely. Columbia orbited Earth 37 times before landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on April 14. It was the first crewed spacecraft designed to glide to a runway landing after an orbital mission.
The flight was not completely flawless. Columbia lost 16 thermal-protection tiles and suffered damage to 148 others from launch effects, including the solid boosters’ overpressure wave. Those findings led to later modifications. STS-2 followed in November 1981, but STS-1 remains the program’s historic first flight.