page_title: STS-1
section_title: Anniversary
hierarchical_section_title: STS-1 / Anniversary
caption_attribution_description: The firing room 1 in the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center is renamed to the Young-Crippen Firing Room in tribute to the 25th anniversary of the first space shuttle flight on April 12, 1981, dedicating the firing room that launched the historic flight and the crew of STS-1. Source
context_page_description: STS-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on 12 April 1981 and returned on 14 April, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 36 times. Columbia carried a crew of two – mission commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen. It was the first American crewed space flight since the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975. STS-1 was also the only maiden test flight of a new American spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by atmospheric testing of the orbiter and ground testing of the Space Shuttle system.
  The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of the first human spaceflight. This was a coincidence rather than a celebration of the anniversary; a technical problem had prevented STS-1 from launching two days earlier, as was planned.
context_section_description: The ultimate launch date of STS-1 fell on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1, the first spaceflight to carry a human crew. In 2001, Yuri's Night was established to celebrate both events. In a tribute to the 25th anniversary of the first flight of Space Shuttle, Firing Room 1 in the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center – which launched STS-1 – was renamed the Young-Crippen Firing Room. NASA described the mission as "the boldest test flight in history".
caption: The plaque of the Young-Crippen Firing Room in the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center.
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