STS-1 was the first NASA Space Shuttle mission, launching the orbiter Columbia in April 1981.
The mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981, with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen aboard. Columbia completed 36 orbits of Earth during the two-day test flight and landed at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14.
STS-1 was designed to test the complete reusable shuttle system, including launch, ascent, orbital operations, atmospheric reentry, and runway landing. It was the first time a crewed spacecraft had been flown into orbit on its first launch.
The mission is sometimes confused with STS-2, which was Columbia’s second flight and the first crewed spacecraft to be reflown. STS-1 began the operational Space Shuttle era, which continued until the final shuttle mission in 2011.