Photo history of Space Shuttle Program -PART 1

The Launch

Formally introduced by President Nixon on Jan. 5, 1972, the shuttle program set out, in the words of the President, to develop "an entirely new type of space transportation system ... that would center on a space vehicle that can shuttle repeatedly from Earth to orbit and back." On the day of the announcement, NASA administrator James Fletcher, left, demonstrated a model of the Space Shuttle concept to the President.

Wild Blue Yonder
Before NASA put a shuttle into space, it conducted five free-flight tests over the Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., in 1977. The approach and landing tests were performed by the shuttle prototype Enterprise, which in this photo flies free of a 747 carrier aircraft during one of the tests.

The Age of the Space Shuttle Begins
The shuttle Columbia leaves the launch pad on April 12, 1981, with astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen aboard. The trip, which lasted more than two days, was the first to take the shuttle into orbit.

Tragedy Strikes

Once the shuttle program began, it operated more or less successfully for five years — until Jan. 28, 1986, when shortly after takeoff, the shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all those aboard.

The Challenger Crew
This group photograph of the fallen astronauts was published broadly after the Challenger disaster as the faces of the crew became familiar to all Americans. They are, back row, from left: Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory B. Jarvis and Judith A. Resnik; front row, from left: Michael J. Smith, Francis R. Scobee and Ronald E. McNair.