Boeing 747 Transporting the Space Shuttle Columbia
Dublin Core
Title
Boeing 747 Transporting the Space Shuttle Columbia
Alternative Title
747 Transporting Space Shuttle Columbia
Subject
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
Merritt Island (Fla.)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.)
NASA
Space Shuttle Program (U.S.)
Columbia (Spacecraft)
Airplanes--United States
Description
The Space Shuttle Columbia, the first operational Space Shuttle, landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility of John F. Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, atop a Boeing 747 transport airplane. The Space Shuttle was meant as a reusable alternative to the traditional ballistic rockets used to launch manned spacecraft in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1981 to 2011, when the fleet was retired, five shuttles were flown over 130 times. It was the first space launch system that was mostly reusable, as the shuttles themselves and the solid rocket boosters were reused multiple times. Space shuttles were launched from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) and Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida. Columbia launched for the first time on April 12, 1981, and completed 27 missions before disintegrating during re-entry at the end of STS-107, its 28th mission, on February 1, 2003. Known as the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the accident resulted in the death of all seven crew members: Mission Commander Rick Husband (1957-2003), Pilot William C. McCool (1961-2003), and Mission Specialists David M. Brown (1956-2003), Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003), Michael P. Anderson (1959-2003), Laurel Clark (1961-2003), and Ilan Ramon (1954-2003).
Source
Original color photographic prints: Leonard Pugh Collection.
Date Created
ca. 1990
Contributor
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original color photographic prints.
Is Part Of
Florida Space Coast History Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Format
image/jpg
Extent
178 KB
107 KB
132 KB
Medium
3 color photographic prints
Type
Still Image
Coverage
John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida
Accrual Method
Donation
Mediator
History Teacher
Civics/Government Teacher
Rights Holder
Copyright to this resource is held by Leonard Pugh and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.
Contributing Project
Curator
Michlowitz, Robert
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
External Reference
"The Shuttle." National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Accessed August 21, 2015. http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/the_shuttle/.
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
3 color photographic prints
Collection
Citation
“Boeing 747 Transporting the Space Shuttle Columbia,” RICHES, accessed June 3, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/6121.