A Remarkable Flying Machine

[Music] Sunday April 12th 1981 Kennedy Space Center Florida the space shuttle 14 stories high 2,000 tons poised on the pack for its Maiden flight this is Colombia the spaceship that will orbit the earth its external tank it holds over 500,000 gallons of fuel for Colombia's three main engines and the solid rocket boosters the largest ever used on any launch vehicle and the first to be employed in a US man flight at liftoff the solid rocket boosters together with the three main engines will unleash more than 65 million pounds of thrust needed to launch the world's first reusable spacecraft never before has a winged vehicle been launched like a rocket orbited the Earth returned through frictional Heating in excess of 2500° and landed still aerodynamically sound to be launched again and again if it succeeds the space shuttle will truly be a remarkable flying [Music] machine there are many other goals to be reached during the 54 and 1/2 hour mission that lies ahead 144 test objectives are planned for the flight these objectives could not be a achieved without an astronaut crew the commander John Young the pilot Robert krippen Young has already been in space four times for a total of 533 hours he is the most experienced astronaut flying today although krippin has over 4,000 hours of jet aircraft flying time this will be his first time in space the astronauts make their way across the access arm toward the shuttle in the pre-dawn hours before launch an American spaceship has never carried a human crew on its maiden voyage at the launch control center 3 miles from the pad final steps are being completed in the countdown final preparations are also being made in the Mission Control Center in Houston where control of the flight will switch once the shuttle clears the tower okay now your V switch to open until there has not been a Mann launch from Kennedy Space Center since the Apollo Solus test project in July of 1975 with this launch young and cripp launch controllers at the cape and flight controllers in Houston will experience the most dynamic fast-paced series of launch events ever undertaken in the space program all in less than 9 minutes the most challenging asent profile ever to be flown by a space vehicle photographers film and television Crews plus newspaper and magazine writers from around the world nearly 2,700 of them are here to cover the launch in addition approximately 600,000 Spectators line the coastal area near the Kennedy Space Center arriving by every mode of transportation they have come from every state in the Union and many foreign countries promise of a rebirth in America's man space program and the dawn of a new era in space Transportation awaits 14 13- 10 9 8 7 6 5 or we've gone for main engine [Music] start [Music] Roger roll the roll will put the shuttle on its precise heading toward an imaginary Target in space clean Roger roll [Music] complete make get a status v go booster go GNC go eag go go 40 Capcom Columbia Houston you're go at 40 the shuttle is now 40 seconds into to flight Roger Columbia on the nice ride you're lofting a little bit so you'll probably be slightly high at staging negative seats Columbia your negative seats should anything go wrong the the shuttle is now too high for the astronauts to use their ejection seats for Sr we see SV set FL on 103 converge kecom let's tell them all the calls are going to be a tad early because of the hot first stage Columbia you're looking a little hot all your calls will be a little early okay looks good here stand by press too columia standby press too Mark it Mark press foro press the shuttle can now continue toward Mo main engine cut off like the VAP eom let go f cap VAP go standby negative return col a standby for negative return mark it Mark negative return and yourap is good it we can confir and single engine Ro flight and colia your single engine Roa colia can land safely at the Naval Air Station in Rota Spain even if two of the three main engines should fail right now the engines are generating over 42 million [Applause] horsepower we got M confirmed right on money nominal main engine cut off Columbia is now in space traveling over 18,000 [Music] mph okay we Roger we confirm the step Columbia the external tank has just been jettisoned and is now falling away from the shuttle back toward Earth the tank will break up as planned over the Indian Ocean when it comes into contact with the atmosphere shortly by firing the ohms orbital maneuvering system engines Colombia will achieve orbit then one of the most important tests of the mission will be attempted opening the payload bay doors the doors must be open before the end of the sixth orbit to expose the space radiator cooling system if the radiators cannot be exposed heat collected from the onboard Electronics cannot be released and the astronauts will have to return [Music] home the ohms burns are successful Colombia is now in orbit circling the earth at an altitude of approximately 15 50 mil the payload bay doors will now be opened okay the port do coming up now roger copy you're missing one fantastic sight boy that is really beautiful out there uh we appreciate those updates both doors have been opened the radiators can be deployed to begin dissipating the heat the doors are all opened up and uh Hunty Dory are deployed right on time and the radiators look good okay we uh we want to show you our home spot here we do have a uh a few tile missing off of uh of both of them uh off of the starbard Pod threee uh tile and some smaller pieces and off the port pod uh looks like I see one full square and looks like a few little triangular shapes that are missing and uh we're trying to put that on TV right now Roger krip we can see that good from what we can see of both Wings top and uh leading edges though there's uh all those are fully intact within minutes an assessment is completed on the impact these missing tiles could have on the remainder of the mission at a news conference later in the day flight director Neil Hutchinson answers questions from reporters you asked me if I knew where there were any other tiles that might be loose the answer is no uh and quite frankly we're not worried about any other tiles being loose at this is there anything anything at all that would lead you to say you might not go for a full duration Mission nothing Columbia Houston uh you guys did so good we're going to let you stay up there for a couple days your gopher on orbit let go for on orbit this thing is just performing just outstanding Roger we agree with that and Columbia Houston just for your information you dropped those srvs right on Target and they were floating just the way they ought to be and the boats were getting ready to fish them and bring them back okay the ride that they gave us was pretty neat the solid rocket boosters which separated from the Columbia as planned 2 minutes 11 seconds into the flight landed on Target in the Atlantic Ocean 151 Mi down range from the launch site after being towed back to Kennedy Space Center both boosters will be refurbished and used again in a future shuttle flight the third and fourth ohms burns are also successful raising Columbia's orbit to an altitude of approximately 172 Mi for the first television transmission from inside the spacecraft the crew will give a status report on the mission the flight so far has gone uh uh as smooth as it could possibly go we've uh done uh every test that we're supposed to do and we're up on the timeline and the vehicle has just been performing uh performing beautifully much better than anyone ever expected uh to do on a first flight and uh no systems are out of shape and uh it's delightful up here in zero gravity my D of course we owe this to a lot of people we certainly want to thank everyone who has helped get this thing every war and can take great pride it's doing so well right now okay we're switching over to uh to the app camera here I'd like to Echo John's words as I usually do I guess uh being the so-called rookie on this flight I had a a thrill from from the moment of lift off all the way up to what we're doing now it it's really been super the spacecraft has worked as advertised all the way along I think we've got something that's really going to mean something to the country in the world this vehicle is performing like a champ like all of us that have worked so long on knew knew that you would okay sure we appreciate those comments I guess that does it that was a good timing I think you must have practiced we're just about to lose your go just accident just accident says Robert grippin none of the other events of the day have been accidental every test liftoff SRB separation and Recovery ET separation and impact four ohms Burns payload bay door latch opening and closing tests radiator latch deploy and stowing tests have all been successful I guess we owe you guys one super ad boy for the day this is fantastic you work through a pretty long hard day and you're essentially right on schedule which I is going to be close to being a first sort of space flight Biz I think for first day activity it's sure been fun working with you today and we look forward to seeing you in the morning I hope you get a good night's rest okay you guys did Super work today see you Manana Rog thank you see you tomorrow [Music] guys well many a minut hour went into this thing the job will done by the shuttle space team we can't say she's sleek and lean but I'll tell you right now she's the Mean Machine the Columbia not the kind you smoke this here is a bird Morning Columbia welcome to day two all right appreciate that super wake up music this morning well we sure enjoyed it listen a good breakfast today the astronauts will test onboard systems and also review procedures for Tom tomorrow's Landing a test of the flight control system is conducted by John Young the flight control system operates Colombia's Aeros surfaces the elevons body flaps Rudder and speed break these surfaces are useless in the vacuum of space but will be essential tomorrow when the shuttle lands this will require Precision maneuverability which the Aeros surfaces provide payload bay door cycling tests help ensure that latching and closing procedures can also be done before entry tomorrow as with every Mission many pictures of the Earth are taken by the astronauts over 500 on this first shuttle flight active volcanoes cloud formations alvial fans giant whirlpools over 15 mil in diameter sand dunes 1500 ft High running unbroken for hundreds of miles the high Himalayas where mountain peaks reach 24,000 ft and one of the most remarkable space photographs ever taken of the earth an area in Iran exposed to wind erosion which has resulted in these breathtaking silt and Sandstone formations that look more like a painting than a desert after lunch on the second day the astronauts receive a phone call from the vice president of the United States George Bush how's it going up there everything rocking along all right SP ship is just performing beautifully well it's great and everybody views it I'm sure just as the Forerunner of great things to come I think think your trip is just going to ignite the excitement and the Forward Thinking from this country so I really just wanted to call up and wish you the very best we appreciate it mrce presid the crew also Dawn and check out the ejection suits they will wear during entry young krippin and Colombia pass every test they are ready for the final phase of the mission entry and Landing [Music] April 14th 1981 NASA's dren flight Research Center on the edge of Rogers dry lake bed in California a recovery Convoy of 24 vehicles and more than 100 Personnel are assembling here to power down Colombia after after landing enormous crowds are also beginning to arrive a string of traffic 6 M long waits to enter the base thousands more are already here close to 1 half million people will eventually be on hand to see the landing on board the astronauts suit up for entry the aset and orbital phases of the mission have gone extremely well now the Final Phase must be completed before that begins columia you have a go for payload bay door closing the doors which have been opened a total of 47 hours during the flight must now be closed then using the RCs thrusters columia will maneuver into deorbit burn attitude head down and backwards fire the OWN engines one last time and descend into the Earth's atmosphere joh we're all riding with you Colombia is out of contact during the M's burn Mission Control will not know if this burn was successful until they are in communication with the spacecraft over Australia it is now over the Indian Ocean on the other side of the world but from that distance the burn must be prec ice so that later colia will hit the lake bed Target in California colia this is Houston through y we're standing by Colombia is now committed to entry with an RCS postburn maneuver and several firings it is oriented to a heads up nose first attitude headed toward entry interface this is where the atmosphere begins at approximately 400,000 ft from that moment until the shuttle reaches 165,000 ft it will be in communication blackout out of touch with mission control for almost 20 minutes The Landing site is almost 4,400 mi from entry interface Chase planes are preparing to take off one will call out altitudes and check Colombia for any damage just prior to Landing when the shuttle touches down here it will be traveling at 216 mph right now it's going more than 177,000 mph before it lands it must slow down lose energy and it must survive the intense heat caused by traveling through the atmosphere at such a high rate of speed several s turns or roll reversals are used to slow down and maneuver Colombia through the atmosphere this one is done at 256,000 FT when it is traveling at more than 26 times the speed of [Music] sound this one is done at 28,000 ft during these two roll reversals entry heating is most severe with temperatures reaching 2500° some places on the vehicle the aluminum skin will melt at 320° the silicate tiles must insulate the vehicle from the tremendous heat since there is no test facility on Earth to simulate the aerodynamic and structural environment Colombia is in right now only calculations could be used to predict what would happen during this phase of the flight [Music] the predictions and calculations had to be right hello here hell colia Houston's here how do you read and we're 103 18 and we couldn't agree more John your state vector's good we've got the good the entry trajectory velocity and position look good Colombia is heading for home now only 470 miles away more left RCS but okay we and John we showing you rolling right looking good we show him crossing the coast land we show you crossing the coast now the shuttle is first sighted at about 100,000 ft with a long range camera from from Anderson Peak California what a way to come to California and flat P I still look perfect right on the number Roger that out of 112k 4.8 [Music] M we see Del 21° a roll reversal is done over Bakersfield California oh that's [Music] beautiful and we're seeing 1.3 G's coming around the Hat the astronauts are making the final turn to line up with the runway Columbia you're really looking good right on the money right on the money and turning on the final your wins on the surface are calm you're right on the Glide slope [Music] Columbia real good underne looks real good Chase reports no tile or other damage is evident underneath the shuttle Columbia's altitude is now just over 5,000 [Music] [Music] ft PR clear without power Columbia must land it cannot make another attempt they're coming they're [Music] down 50 40 30 20 10 5 4 3 2 one touch [Music] down 5 4 three touchdown bmer col Welcome Home Columbia beautiful beautiful [Music] take it up hang Jo we're going to dust it off first this the world's greatest all electric FL I'll tell you that [Music] super okay convo on stop from the colia [Music] [Applause] [Music] stop the maiden voyage of Colombia has been a success the astronauts and the vehicle have met or exceeded all 144 flight test objectives the Integrity of all the systems propulsion avionics structural flight control Power and thermal have been [Music] affirmed John Young's comments after returning home I can't tell you what a tribute that is to the American Working Man and the American working woman too you can't imagine the variety of people who worked on this vehicle from all walks of life all capabilities and limitations it's all due to their individual efforts they proved that they can do the job they proved it for the world to see and I'm Mighty proud to be associated with folks like that what a tribute indeed the Columbia represents an achievement in Aerospace technology and development never before realized in the history of man space flight it is our basic building block for the future it's what we've been trying to do for the last 10 years we've got a vehicle with a payload performance that will allow us to do that much cheaper than we've been able to do it before it will measurably improve the defensive capability of the country it will help develop space science and technology when we get operational the space shuttle will be able to do in five to 10 years what it would have taken us 20 to 30 years to do otherwise we couldn't do it if we didn't have the space shuttle and that payload capability and the sooner we do those things the better off the country is going to be a revolutionary new era in space Transportation has just begun routine access to space Welcome To The [Music] Future [Music] n [Music]