Space Shuttle Columbia

Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA‘s orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew members were killed. Following an independent investigation into the cause of the accident, NASA decided to retire the Shuttle orbiter fleet in 2010 in favor of the Constellation program and its manned Orion spacecraft. However, President Obama signed the NASA Authorization Act 2010 on October 11 which officially brought the Constellation program to an end.

Columbia OV-102
Space Shuttle Columbia rolls towards Launch Pad 39A, atop the Mobile Launcher Platform, carried by a crawler-transporter (underneath), prior to launching on STS-107. Columbia disintegrated on re-entry at the end of this mission
OV designation	OV-102
Country	United States
Contract award	July 26, 1972
Named after	Columbia (1773) (renamed Columbia Rediviva, 1787)
Status	Destroyed February 1, 2003
First flight	STS-1 April 12, 1981 – April 14, 1981
Last flight	STS-107 January 16, 2003 – February 1, 2003
Number of missions	28
Crews	160
Time spent in space	300 days 17:40:22[1]
Number of orbits	4,808
Distance travelled	201,497,772 km (125,204,911 miles)
Satellites deployed

Flights

Space Shuttle Columbia flew 28 flights, spent 300.74 days in space, completed 4,808 orbits, and flew 125,204,911 miles (201,497,772 km) in total, including its final mission.

Columbia was the only shuttle to have been spaceworthy during the Shuttle-Mir and International Space Station programs and yet to have never visited either Mir or ISS. In contrast, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour have all visited both stations at least once, as Columbia was not suited for high-inclination missions. Challenger was destroyed before the Shuttle-Mir Program began, and Enterprise never flew in space.

#	Date	Designation	Launch pad	Landing location	Notes
1	1981, April 12	STS-1	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	First shuttle mission. Launch witnessed by the band Rush; inspired the song “Countdown” on their 1982 album Signals.
2	1981, November 12	STS-2	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	First re-use of manned space vehicle
3	1982, March 22	STS-3	39-A	White Sands Space Harbor	First mission with an unpainted External tank. Only time that a space shuttle has landed at the White Sands Space Harbor. This launch was dedicated by Ronald Reagan to “the people of Afghanistan“.
4	1982, June 27	STS-4	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	Last shuttle R&D flight
5	1982, November 11	STS-5	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	First four-person crew, first deployment of commercial satellite.
6	1983 November 28	STS-9	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	First six-person crew, first Spacelab.
7	1986, January 12	STS-61-C	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	Representative Bill Nelson (D–FL) on board/ final successful shuttle flight before Challenger disaster
8	1989, August 8	STS-28	39-B	Edwards Air Force Base	Launched KH-11 reconnaissance satellite
9	1990, January 9	STS-32	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	Retrieved Long Duration Exposure Facility
10	1990, December 2	STS-35	39-B	Edwards Air Force Base	Carried multiple X-ray & UV telescopes
11	1991, June 5	STS-40	39-B	Edwards Air Force Base	5th Spacelab – Life Sciences-1
12	1992, June 25	STS-50	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	U.S. Microgravity Laboratory 1 (USML-1)
13	1992, October 22	STS-52	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	Deployed Laser Geodynamic Satellite II
14	1993, April 26	STS-55	39-A	Edwards Air Force Base	German Spacelab D-2 Microgravity Research
15	1993, October 18	STS-58	39-B	Edwards Air Force Base	Spacelab Life Sciences
16	1994, March 4	STS-62	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	United States Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2)
17	1994, July 8	STS-65	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2)
18	1995, October 20	STS-73	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2)
19	1996, February 22	STS-75	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R)
20	1996, June 20	STS-78	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS)
21	1996, November 19	STS-80	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	3rd flight of Wake Shield Facility (WSF)/ longest Shuttle flight
22	1997, April 4	STS-83	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL)- cut short
23	1997, July 1	STS-94	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL)- reflight
24	1997, November 19	STS-87	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4)
25	1998, April 13	STS-90	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	Neurolab – Spacelab
26	1999, July 23	STS-93	39-B	Kennedy Space Center	Deployed Chandra X-ray Observatory
27	2002, March 1	STS-109	39-A	Kennedy Space Center	Hubble Space Telescope service mission (HSM-3B)
28	2003, January 16	STS-107	39-A	Did not land (Planned to land at Kennedy Space Center)	A multi-disciplinary microgravity and Earth science research mission. Shuttle destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 and all seven astronauts on board died.