Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine (1981)

Sunday April 12th 1981 Kennedy Space Center Florida the space shuttle 14 stories high 2,000 tons poised on the pad for its Maiden flight this is Colombia the spaceship that will orbit the earth its external tank tank it holds over 500,000 Gall of fuel for Columbia'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 Usman flight at liftoff the solid rocket boosters together with the three main engines will unleash more than 62 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 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 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 [Music] an American spaceship has never carried a human crew on its maiden voyage at the launch control center 3 mil 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 man launch from Kennedy Space Center since the Apollo soos 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 for 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 manspace program and the dawn of a new era in space Transportation awaits 14 13 tus 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 we've gone for main engine [Music] start I [Music] Roger roll the roll will put the shuttle on its precise heading toward an imaginary Target in space complete Roger R complete [Applause] they get a status FAL go booster go GNC go Eagle go go 40 Capcom Columbia Houston you're go 40 the shuttle is now 40 seconds into to flight Roger columia on the nice ride you're lofting a little bit you probably be slightly high at staging negative St columia your negative seats should anything go wrong the shuttle is now too high for the astronauts to use their ejection seats Sr we see SRV set flight on 103 converge ke 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 okay that looks good here standby press to Moo Columbia standby press to Moo mark it Mark Press for moo press for the shuttle can now continue toward Mo main engine cut off like eom Let Go Capcom standby negative return colia standby for negative return Market Mark negative return and yourap is good we can confir [Music] it and single engine Roa flight and colia your single engine Roa Colombia 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 horsepower [Applause] we got confirmed right on the money nominal main engine cut off Colombia is now in space traveling over 18,000 mph we Roger we confirm the step Columbia the external tank has just been jettisoned and is now fall in 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 system if the radiators cannot be exposed heat collected from the onboard Electronics cannot be released and the astronauts will have to return home the ohms burns are successful Columbia is now in orbit circling the earth at an altitude of approximately 150 Mi the payload bay doors will now be opened okay the four door is coming open now Roger copy well you're missing one fantastic site 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 open open up and huny Dory to deployed right on time and the radiator look [Music] good okay we uh we want to show you our home spots here we do have a uh a few tile missing off of U of both of them uh off of the star pod three tile and some smaller pieces and our support pod uh looks like I see one full square and uh looks like a few little triangular shapes that are missing and uh we're trying to put that on TV right now Roger grip we can see that good uh from what we can see of both Wings top and Lead edges all are fully Inta within minutes an assessment is completed on the impact these missing tiles could have on the remainder of the mission ftic 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 writing 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 goer on orbit want go for on orbit this thing is just performing just outstanding Roger we agree with that and Columbia Houston just for your information uh you drop 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 [Music] back okay the ride that they gave us was pretty neat the solid rocket boosters which separated from the Colombia as planned 2 minutes 11 seconds into the flight landed on Target in the Atlantic Ocean 151 M 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 Colombia'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 as smooth as 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 U 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 dad of course we owe this to a lot of people we certainly want to thank everyone who has helped get this thing airborn 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 that 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 if 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 and the world this vehicle is uh performing like a champ like all of us that have worked so long on knew knew that you would okay sir 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 gold just accident just accident says Robert Griffin 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 cl closing tests radiator latch deploy and stowing tests have all been successful I guess we allow you guys one super ad boy for the day I 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 activities it sure been fun working with you today and we look forward to see you in the morning I hope you get a good night's rest okay you guys did Super work today see you manana R thank you see you tomorrow [Music] guys well many a minut arrow went into this thing a job well done by the shuttle space team we can't say she's sleek and lean but I'll tell you right now she's a Mean Machine the columia not the kind you smoke this here's a bird Morning Columbia welcome to day two all right appre that super wake up music this morning we sure enjoyed it Len a good breakfast today the astronauts will test onboard systems and also review procedures for tomorrow's Landing a test of the flight control system is conducted by John Young the flight control system operates Colombia's AOS surfaces the elevons body flaps Rudder and speed BR 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 arrow surfaces provide payload bay door cycling tests help ensure that latching and closing procedures can also be done before entry tomorrow 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 uial fans giant whirl pools over 15 m in diameter sand dunes 15 00 ft High running unbroken for hundreds of miles the high Himalayas were mountain peaks reach 24,000 [Music] 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 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 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 certainly appreciate it Mr the crew also Dawn and check out the ejection suits they will wear during entry young krippen 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 landing enormous crowds are also beginning to arrive a string of traffic mil 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 Columbia you have a go for payload bay door closing the doors which have been open 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 ohms engines one last time and descend into the Earth's atmosphere Easy Does It John we're all riding with you Colombia is out of contact during the OHS 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 precise so that later Colombia will hit the lake bed Target in California Columbia this is Houston through YY we're standing by [Applause] Columbia 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 sight is almost 4,400 M 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 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 [Music] flight the predictions and calculations had to be right hello houon col's here hello colia Houston's here how do you read and we3 18 and we couldn't agree more John your state vector's good we've got a good data in the entry trajectory velocity and position look good Colombia is heading for home now only 470 M away more left RCS but okay we sh and John we showing you rolling right looking good we're show him crossing the coast land flag we show you crossing the coast now the shuttle is first sided at about 100,000 ft with a long range camera from Anderson Peak California what a way to come to California and flat pedal I still look perfect right on the nominal Roger that out of 112k 4.8 [Music] Mo we see de 21° a roll reversal is done over Bakersfield [Music] California all right that's beautiful [Music] and we're seeing 1.3 G's coming around the [Music] hack the astronauts are making the final turn to line up with the [Music] runway Columbia you're really looking good right on the money right on the money and turning on to final your wins on the surface are calm you're right on the Glide slope [Music] Columbia real good under looks real good Chase reports no tile or other damage is evident underneath the shuttle Colombia's altitude is now just over 5,000 ft [Music] are you clear without power Colombia must land it cannot make another attempt they're coming you're down [Music] 50 ft 40 30 20 10 5 4 3 2 one touch down [Music] 5 4 three [Music] touchdown Welcome Home Columbia beautiful [Music] beautiful you want us to take it up hanger Joe we're going to dust it off first this the world's greatest all electric fline I'll say that it was [Music] super okay convo on Wheel stop from the Columbia wheel stop [Applause] The maen 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 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 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 5 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 Future oh [Music]