STS-1 Launch, Columbia (April 12, 1981)

[krashdown102]

go baby go

[wcmi92]

I watched this myself... On Saturday morning... I was 9 years old... I only wondered when they'd reach the moon. Which was wrong.

[wcmi92]

Young and Crippen ARE great Americans.

[oriole4008]

retiring the space shuttle is stupid. at least we get to see them in the museums

[oriole4008]

Obama says were going to mars. how does he say that when hes preventing it?

[furgee]

@oriole4008 Cuz he is a moron

[preving]

@furgee When Obama came into office, the economy was shredding 800k jobs a month. The unemployment rate peaked at 10.1% during the first few months of his presidency BEFORE his policies were able to go into effect. Since then, the unemployment rate has dropped 1% and the economy has added something like 2.5 million jobs since he took office.

[frogger626]

@oriole4008 How is cancelling the shuttle program preventing a Mars mission? Shuttle was in no way capable of going to Mars. We needed a new, safer, more powerful system to boost that sort of tonnage out that far.

[Erik0072]

For the 100th comment I'd just like to add that John Young and Bob Crippen arent just NASA astronauts, if you have ever had the chance to hear them speak they are true gentlemen and should be confirmed as national treasures :)

[kineticdeath]

i just watched an apollo launch from the 70's. The shuttle looks like its from a totally different world compared to the big tall Saturn's. The whole concept of a space plane looks sci-fi in comparison. Hope i get to see something else like the shuttle in my lifetime

[don312000]

@kineticdeath amazing that it's from the same launch pad!!

[decemberdazzle]

The Shuttles are so beautiful.  Their premature retirement is tragic!! Rest in peace, beautiful spacecraft!

[JRhalo14]

great 30 years NASA

[millu1986]

miss the shuttle =(

[Raajur]

The best looking space craft ever built. I don't care what you say, that thing looks AMAZING.

[anodeenzyme]

Who cares about your pointless spaceplane?

Aldrin (with all his faults) himself said it best. It took 66 years to get from Kitty Hawk to the Sea of Tranquility. Since then, we've been footling around for half a century in low-earth orbit. Any American wanting to get into space must now either walk to the top of Mt McKinley or hitch a ride with the *Russians*, for cripes sakes. By now, the Mars colony should be agitating for Independence, just like you Americans did from us Brits.

[EndeavourLaunch]

@anodeenzyme I care about my pointless spaceplane, which constructed the largest space station to date. I care about my pointless spaceplane, the most technologically advanced spacecraft ever built.

[laletemanolete]

Why the CC write "people in a stupid it's" when the ground control man is actually saying "T minus..."

[pilipinasmabuhay100]

30 years of history. Amazing. Onward to the new, NEW frontier! :D

[autodrivex]

@pilipinasmabuhay100 Nice words, but we have no real space program anymore.

[lucianmop]

which is th future of nasa transports if they quit th sts missions??? can anybody explain. thanks and good video ;)

[Zeus0Moose]

@lucianmop I believe that they plan to use the Russian Soyuz during the Shuttle's absence.

[lucianmop]

@Zeus0Moose hey thanks for th info. have a nice day ;) greetings from buenos aires city, argentina.

[Zeus0Moose]

@lucianmop No problem.

[NZbobNZ]

skip to 5:02 4 the lanch

[JacobT190]

RIP Columbia

1981-2003

[Neptune997]

Awesome. RIP Columbia.

[Matthewatlanta]

I went to the first attempt of this launch on Friday, April 10, 1981 when I was in elementary school. We had to get up and get to the school by 3 am to get to Kennedy Space Center, and we got to stand in the VIP section only a few miles away from the launch pad. The launch was scrubbed that day and rescheduled for Sunday morning.  I was too lazy to get myself out of bed that early on a Sunday morning, and that has been one of the biggest regrets of my life. I could have seen that in person.

[TEAinZeroG]

NASA isn't about "rockets" or "shuttles". It is about exploration and science, human and robotic, and opening up access to space for all of us. NASA is the government agency that will open space to us like the government did for the railroads and airlines.

There are much better ways to spend money on access to space than shuttle.

[machadojr]

John Young rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zoomer30]

It's probably best Constellation was killed, the Ares I scares me. You don't get a mulligan with an SRB once it fires.

[railfanatic844]

we'll all be looking at Nasa and saying LAME after the shuttle is retired

[ChrisAstro30]

30 years ago today!:)

[schuchnet]

@ChrisAstro30 I remember it as if it were yesterday. With the shuttles retiring, I'm feeling very nostalgic.

[Samjapa]

Columbia's shine into the stars forever.

[helios375]

The reason they are retiring the shuttle is because they are becoming outdated, and the reason Obama is canceling the constelation program is because.... he doesnt want us just to go to the moon again but to Mars. so its a tradeoff , either the moon or mars

[AndrewFinch1]

@helios375 Obama is an asshole.

[ILSRWY4]

@helios375 Listen to NASA channel & Mission status briefing dated 03/07/2011! A question from a reporter "if politics, budget, etc. wasn't in the mix if you speak only of the machine itself how long can the shuttles keep flying?" Answer by head engineer, " with upgrades the shuttles can fly continuously-as Discovery has shown here on STS-133, its totally up-to-date & operating flawlessly, I don't what to say exactly when but they can continue to fly for a long time"

They are not outdated!

[Briggie]

@helios375

Outdated? There are commercial airplanes that were made in the mid sixties and are still flying. dc-9s are the first ones I think of. There are even dc-3s that are still used for charter flights.

[thedeem0N]

is this the same Columbia Shuttle that fucking Disintegrated during re-entry in 2003?!?

[spajdude]

@thedeem0N Yes. :(

[hawkmoth11]

@thedeem0N yeah

[silicon212]

@thedeem0N There was only ever one Columbia. Yes, this is the one.

[nor94]

@thedeem0N It's the same fuckin fuckity fuck motherfuckin Columbia.

[DLOColumbia107]

God Bless Columbia....

[phattieg]

Did you see that shockwave/burst of pressure move the smoke? The sound suppression system on this mission was much smaller, and as a result, a shockwave was generated, shattering, or damaging almost 80% of the carbon carbon heat shields used for re-entry heat protection. The astronauts said had they known it, they probably would have aborted using the abort hatch. So they put in a larger water pump to dump more water to suppress the sound of the solid rocket boosters igniting.

[AdamTheDroog]

This is trippy listening to this. I've only heard it in the background of the Rush song.

[strangernmoscow]

Is there a place you can go to download these shuttle launches so i can burn them to dvd?

[oreoweb6]

Its strange what started as excitement and pure adrenline rush has turned to sadness and feeling of missing the sound of a machine that generated so much power to feel miles away.

[mrcrazydudeful]

I'm sad to see this baby leave!! You will live in our memories forever.

[blkmanbat]

from my understanding this is the first time 2 men were launched on a space vehicle that was not " launched tested " . is that correct? john young and robert crippen are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

[goombabear]

This would have been in Reagan's first year in the heart of the Cold War age. I turned 11 on this day. cool.

[knightfan96]

29 years ago from today!

[heathey2]

Historic huh

[mrspaceshuttle1]

hail columbia

[guslb12]

@TheMaxwell777 brown was a better presentation

it was less heavier

and a better way to the difference "which one is the shuttle and which one is the tank"

[Sasan]

Dude Thats wrong! The white color was due to the fact that NASA thought the tank could heat up too much! Later they realized this is not an issue and did not paint it anymore. Therefore its brown now!

[xxjpxxdeluxe]

@Sasan Sorry to cut in but I believe that the tank is actually orange

[ILSRWY4]

@xxjpxxdeluxe The external tank is actually a light tan color coming from from the factury. After exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun it turns dark brown/orange. It was orginally (frist two launches only) painted white which acted as a protectant for the foam insulation but was deemed not nessessary and just a waiste of weight- so from STS-3 onward the white paint was omitted to save weight.

Read: Space Shuttle: History of the National Space Transportation System by Dennis R. Jenkins.

[ILSRWY4]

@Sasan The thermal paint was used to protect the foam from the heat of the SRBs. The white color (& black contrasts) is used on the SRBs & early E.T. as a high visibility for tracking. As for the E.T. the white thermal paint didn't help the foam anyway & it was too much weight- so from STS-3 onward it was omitted to save weight.

Read: "Space Shuttle:History of the National Transportation System" by Dennis R. Jenkins  "Kennedy Space Center: Gate Way to Space" by David West Reynolds

[britoca]

I had the good fortune of watching this live, and now I'll have the displeasure of also watching the last launch live, knowing there is no replacement.

What other future vehicle will be able to both launch and COLLECT large-format space experiments? NONE

we all lose in the end with this decision.

[blkmanbat]

@britoca . i live here in cape canaveral and saw the 1st shuttle launch also. and like you i will see the last. i call what is happening to the program an "OBAMAnation". so much for creating jobs for america!

[crissy214]

O boo boo is a Bozo. From now on the President of the United States is an entery level position

[crissy214]

Obooboo What a discrace of a president. But at least we now know that the president of the united states is now an entery level position

[plusplusplusplusp]

@britoca

When I found out about Orion/Project Constellation, I wondered why they were replacing a reusable space plane with a little capsule which looks just like the ones they stopped using thirty-five years ago.

[nickyp28]

@plusplusplusplusp Orion would be reusable up to 10 times, and considering an Orion is cheaper and easier to make than a shuttle and uses technologies perfected by the USA and the Soviets during the space race (Russia still use the Soyuz) and you dont really need wings in outer space, it seems the perfect solution. Winged space planes for orbital Earth missions and Crew Return Vehicles from the ISS or any other hypothetical future space station would be useful though.

[AirSimming]

@nickyp28 Orion was planned to be reusable only for ISS flights (and there was growing doubts). It would have been a "perfect" solution only in case NASA would have chosen a reasonable launch vehicle. Because Ares 1 was not. The estimated launch costs for Ares 1 increased up to 50% more than for Shuttle launches, whilst carrying 50% less payload. Additionally, another 50 billion USD would have been required to complete development. That's why they canceled the program, and meanwhile even Orion.

[mrcrazydudeful]

@nickyp28 True. The Soyuz is a splashdown aircraft and the space shuttle is a air land aircraft. 

[lonestar1969]

@TheMaxwell777 - to save weight. Not sure what the wieght diff was, but i read that in a national geographic article in the 80s

[mach25man]

The foam on the tank is not painted brown. After the foam is applied, it turns that color reacting with the oxygen in the air. The white paint was removed so it could carry more payload. BTW, the tank carries both oxygen and hydrogen.

[OldCaesar1]

Yeah..why?visibility?

[gullybear20]

@TheMaxwell777  No problem =)

[gullybear20]

I could be wrong but I believe they first painted them white because they thought solar heating would be a problem, but when it did not turn out to be a problem they stopped painting them as it reduced the ETs weight a few hundred pounds.

[albgk]

@gullybear20 I was wondering why they used to paint them white... but that makes sense

[jatroup12]

@gullybear20 They painted them white bc they had always painted rockets white. But they had never needed to recover parts of a rocket before and they found that locating the external tank in the ocean was a lot easier if it were painted orange as opposed to white. Of course now with gps tracking, it's a redundant feature.

[LiquidOX2H2]

@jatroup12 you're wrong, the ET it is actually orange (because of the materials) and they don't paint it white because the white paint was actually more unnecesary cargo to the Space Shuttle.

That's right, the quit painting the ET because of its weight!

[gullybear20]

@jatroup12 Umm they do not recover the External Tank. They only recover the SRBs. The External Tank is jettisoned after MECO in orbit and is the only part of the STS that is not re-used.

[JohnnieWentworth]

The insulation foam is naturally the orange colour. The white paint added weight and so was removed.

[ledfrog]

@gullybear20 You are correct, but the lack of paint actually saved about 600 pounds!

[anglim45]

@gullybear20 No. They painted the insulation white because they thought it looked good. They stopped painting it after STS-2 because the paint added hundreds of pounds of unnecessary weight.

[rockfilmers]

I can't believe there are retiring the shuttle this year. To bad Obama wants to cancel the Constellation program, now NASA will be boring lol

[Australian123Gamer]

canceling constellation its a bit to late for that

[rockfilmers]

No it's not. All they have to do is cut funding.

[noonedude101]

@rockfilmers

No lol.

Fuck Obama

[johnross12]

@rockfilmers Too bad we can't cancel Obama.

[vonkiser]

@rockfilmers oh that fukin loser will be out of office b4 he can do anything about it-I hope.

[Zeus0Moose]

@rockfilmers The Constellation's Orion Capsule is still being developed, and as far as I know, it is being planned to be the spacecraft to take us to Mars by 2030.

[Herman2729]

@rockfilmers they cant keep paying for it dumbass and even bush wanted to end it

[rockfilmers]

@Herman2729 I'm a dumb ass? Bush did not wan't to cancel the Constellation program, he signed off on it. Your calling me a dumb ass because it's to bad they are canceling. You think I don't know that the US is having budget problems right now? It's to bad they can cancel a Constellation but we are throwing money away to inflated military? I'm a dumb ass huh? You really feel the need to post that about me based on a comment I made over a year and a half ago? And I'm a dumb ass? Well, ur a genius.

[ZeroC0ol1989]

@rockfilmers

Constellation was too expensive but I agree they should have flown a replacement program by this time already...

NASA says they are working on the Orion program what is a capsule design that would be able to travel to the moon and to mars and they want to hire commercial rocket companies to build their rockets because they realize by now that their rockets are always over-budget...

But I highly doubt NASA will receive enough funding to get this program off the ground

[tack534]

@rockfilmers He also reduced their budget to something like $2 billion. So instead of cutting funding from things that should be cut, like social security for example, he decides to gut NASA. Great move... -_-

[ChrisJK94]

I wasn't born when this launched but it was the first of many great missions.

[mungojerry311]

Bob Crippen would later command the STS-7 mission, the same mission that Sally Ride was on. In doing that he became the first astronaut to be on the shuttle twice. Ironic...

[one2nd1]

I remember telling the school teacher I wasn't coming to school this day, because I wanted to stay home to watch it, The school decided to let everyone watch it on the then the biggest tv you could have! a 26"!!!

[GuineaJay]

I remember we watched all of these at school. cool post

[B3yond3]

yea it doesn't really look good all white

[AbahZabah]

Did this really happen over 28 years ago? Wow. Like yesterday.

[trekkie604]

Why did Columbia have those black tiles along the top surfaces of its forward wing? The other orbiters don't have that.

[JephN]

The black areas on the chines were added because orbiter's designers did not know how reentry heating would affect the craft's upper wing surfaces.

[HNDNV07]

What is the main purpose for the smoke or vapor? Thanks for posting!

[yatpaysarchives]

The vapor you are seeing is steam caused by the sound suppression system. Rocket launches are incredibly loud and can actually damage the vehicle with the sound. Shortly before launch they begin dumping enormous amounts of water into the area where the rocket plumes of the main engines will be. The engines then fire into this water which causes the large amount of steam. There is also smoke coming from the white solid rocket boosters on either side of the vehicle.

[JephN]

The white vapor coming from the bottom of the 3 main engines before they ignite is oxygen. Some helium is added in to the system for release to displace hydrogen that might be in the area near the engines. Mixing hydrogen and oxygen at the aft end of the orbiter could create an explosion that would damage the engines.

[TechmanFred]

Sound Suppression Water System

The sound of the launching Orbiter can damage the vehicle itself.

(If youve ever been to KSC, theres a nice intro-video in that shuttle launch experience simulator that explains that the sound of a launching Shuttle can kill you in a radius of 500m around the area)

[don312000]

They actually had some damage to the body flap on STS 1 d/t sound...John Young said that if he'd been aware of how badly damaged it was at the time he would have ejected Crippen and himself, resulting in the loss of the vehicle on its first mission. Fortunately they didn't know it was damaged, and more fortunately, it wasn't damaged to the point it was inoperative or else it could have burned up on re-entry.

[plex4r]

Great job on the launch.

Does anyone have or know where all of the audio is to STS-1? Thanks!