Launch Views - Columbia - STS-1 Mission - KSC

S81-30460 (12 April 1981) --- A remote camera at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A captured this scene as the maiden flight of space shuttle Columbia begins. Astronauts John W. Young, STS-1 commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, are aboard Columbia as it begins an orbital mission scheduled to last some 54 hours. The flight will end on April 14 with an unpowered landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Three main engines and two solid rocket boosters are necessary to boost the 150,000 pound orbiter into Earth orbit. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration