Facts about Space Shuttle Columbia
- 08
At 81.7 meters long and weighing 240,135 pounds, Space Shuttle Columbia was the heaviest orbiter in the entire Space Shuttle fleet.
- 07
In 1996, Space Shuttle Columbia deployed the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission hardware, enabling astronauts to conduct critical repairs and upgrades to the observatory.
- 06
Forty-eight times Space Shuttle Columbia deployed satellites into orbit across its 28-mission career, including communications and scientific observation spacecraft.
- 05
Columbia carried the Spacelab module on nine of its missions, functioning as an orbital laboratory for microgravity experiments in materials science and life sciences research.
- 04
During its 28 missions spanning 1981 to 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia completed 4,808 orbits around Earth, logging over 300 days in space.
- 03
Columbia's first mission in 1981 carried only two crew members, making it the least-populated Space Shuttle orbital flight in program history.
- 02
The first Space Shuttle Columbia launched on April 12, 1981, with astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, marking the inaugural orbital flight of the Space Shuttle program.
- 01
On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry over Texas, killing all seven crew members aboard.