As a docked Atlantis orbits overhead with the International Space Station, I felt it only appropriate to delve into the YouTube aviation archive once again and pull out vintage NASA footage from STS-1, the first mission by Space Shuttle Columbia that began on April 12, 1981. Flown by astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, the mission was a two-day checkout flight of the spacecraft.
Today’s Movie Monday takes you to the April 1981 coverage of Columbia’s first liftoff and and landing as reported by NBC and ABC News. Rather than embed each of the 27 parts below, the players is in a playlist format that allows you to step from one part to another. The news coverage of STS-1, as well as a 30-minute NASA documentary of the flight runs a whopping 4 hours and 30 minutes. Enjoy.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.