17). [NASA's First Space Shuttle Flight: STS-1 (Photos)] "Here was a brand new vehicle, [that weighed] a couple of hundred thousand pounds at landing. [It] had never been through ascent or been ...

during preparations for the first flight (STS-1) of NASA's new reusable spacecraft system. This photo was taken in March 1981 ahead of Columbia's April 12, 1981 launch. A remote camera at the ...