Thread by @kscosmosphere

On April 12, 1981, 20 after Yuri Gagarin's historic first spaceflight, John Young and Robert Crippen lifted off into the history books as the first crew of the Space Shuttle program on STS-1.
The Shuttle Columbia lifted off seconds after 7 a.m. Eastern time from Pad 39A. 1/7

Their mission was the first time that astronauts had flown on a launch vehicle that hadn’t previously been tested.
The Shuttle stack, which consisted of the orbiter, solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and external tank (ET), flew together for the first time. 2/7

Commander John Young, a Gemini and Apollo veteran, and rookie astronaut Robert Crippen spent two days in space, testing orbiter systems and demonstrating “safe launch into orbit and return to landing of Columbia and its crew.” 3/7

During liftoff, the water sound suppression system on the launch pad didn’t fully dampen the effects of the massive SRBs. The overpressure wave those engines created damaged tiles on the orbiter, with 16 lost and 148 damaged. 4/7

These tiles weren’t in critical areas on the orbiter, so their loss didn’t pose a threat to the crew’s safety or to the success of the mission.
Young and Crippen landed at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14, having completed the first flight of the Shuttle program. 5/7

Images: 1. Columbia is seen here at launch. Notice the white external tank. The white ET was used during STS-1 and STS-2. White paint was used to protect the tank from ultraviolet light. 6/7

Image 1 cont: Although this didn't turn out to be a problem, so it was decided to begin using the unpainted tank beginning with STS-3 – not painting the ET tank white saved approximately 600 pounds. 2. STS-1 crew John Young and Robert Crippen. 7/7

📷 NASA