On 12 April 1981, Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on STS-1, the first orbital flight of NASA's Space Transportation System. Unlike earlier American spacecraft, the shuttle was designed around a reusable orbiter that launched vertically and returned to Earth as a glider.
A Space-Flown Columbia Relic
The relic associated with the artwork is thermal-insulation liner from Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle 102. Made from beta cloth and Kapton insulation, the material lined and protected areas within the shuttle's payload bay.
Space-flown thermal insulation material from Space Shuttle Columbia, OV-102.
The component carries part number 362160-002-NC and was ultimately marked for disposal, allowing surviving material from the orbiter to be preserved.
The First Flight
Commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen flew STS-1, a two-day mission intended primarily to prove that the shuttle system could launch, operate in orbit and return safely. No uncrewed orbital test preceded it.
Space Shuttle Columbia during the early Space Transportation System program.
Columbia landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 14 April 1981. STS-1 opened a shuttle program that would continue for three decades and fundamentally change how the United States launched crews, satellites and scientific payloads into orbit.
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