They Launched the First Space Shuttle With Pieces Missing | Real NASA Footage

On April 12, 1981, John Young and Bob Crippen flew the space shuttle Columbia on its very first flight, the first time anyone had ridden a brand-new spacecraft into orbit. A few hours later they looked back at the tail and saw holes in the heat shield. Nobody could see the belly, the side that faces the fire on the way home. This is the true story of STS-1: the tiles that kept failing, the secret pictures NASA reportedly asked for, the call that told the crew their ejection seats were useless, and the damage nobody knew about until after landing. 0:00 Intro 1:00 A ship made of tiles 1:46 No test flight 2:45 Liftoff 4:20 Pieces missing 5:35 The secret pictures 6:20 Coming home 7:53 What nobody knew 9:02 Epilogue 9:37 Outro Footage and sound: NASA (public domain), the National Archives film "Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine" (1981), NASA Johnson Space Center STS-1 air-to-ground audio, NASA Kennedy and Armstrong (Dryden) film archives, images.nasa.gov. Thumbnail: illustration. Sources: NASA, "40 years ago: Columbia takes flight" and the STS-1 40th anniversary features (2021) NASA Safety and Mission Assurance, "STS-1 Pre-Launch Accident" NBC News (2011), "The risks were high for first shuttle astronauts" Dwayne Day, The Space Review (April 17, 2017), on Rowland White's "Into the Black" NASA Technical Reports Server 20110015745 (shuttle ignition overpressure) NASA Thermal Protection System and Canadarm histories Columbia Accident Investigation Board report (2003) and the Congressional Research Service synopsis RS21606 NASA KSC interview with Bob Crippen (2021) Not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.