The Greatest Test Flight - STS-1 (Full Mission 03)

The Greatest Test Flight - STS-1 (Full Mission 03)

STS-1 - Columbia - April 12-14 1981 - Onboard are astronauts John Young (CDR) and Bob Crippen (PLT).

This is the third video of an intended series which will cover the first Space Shuttle flight from countdown to touchdown.

Part 03 - The Countdown for the launch continuesand concludes with the sucessfull launch of Columbia and her crew. The video ends with orbit and the 1st of two planned OMS burns achieved .

Some video was substituted where it wasnt available - for instance I have used some static pad shots from the April 10th attempt. The final countdown from T-20 minutes is as broadcast and the launch includes the broadcast views along with a previous video (STS-1 multi screen) and some video from the post flight press conference. Countdown and Post Launch clock is for reference only and is not accurate to the timeline. Captions are used to inform the viewer what he/she is watching. Photos have been added where appropriate. To complete the sequence Orbiter Space Simulator has been used from SRB SEP through to the OMS burn.

The video is captured on a 16:9 screen to allow captioning and photos/video to be shown by the side of the main screen.

Audio is in two channels. One covers the PAO channel and the other is the launch director loops which carried the comm from the launch team at the Cape.

My personal thanks to JL Pickering and Ed Hengveld who produce excellent photo CDs of space missions that really enhanced the video.

All video/pictures and audio is courtesy NASA.