1981 STS-1 the 1st SPACE SHUTTLE mission original rare NASA 'Crew Activity Plan'

Description: PRINTS BOOKS PHOTOGRAPHS MANUSCRIPTS CURIOSITIES - RARE AND ORIGINAL NASA 'HANDBOOK' RELATING TO THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITAL FLIGHT - FABULOUS EPHEMERAL PIECE OF NASA SPACE HISTORY -STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1 was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on April 12, 1981, and returned on April 14, 1981, 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 (ASTP) in 1975. STS-1 was also the maiden test flight of a new American spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by atmospheric testing (ALT) of the orbiter and ground testing of the Space Shuttle system).'STS-1 Flight Data File Crew Activity Plan' - detailed and wholly original NASA document relating to the Space Shuttle's first orbital flight test, 1981. (Houston): NASA, March 2, 1981. 'Final' edition prior to launch. 204pp. First page with facsimile signatures of NASA directors. Includes numerous charts, graphs and cockpit control board schematics. Original blue wraps, with upper wrap printed recto and verso. Size: 4to (11 x 8¾ in).Near Fine to Very Good condition. Light creasing to top left corner of front wrap and subsequent pages. Very minor marking to wraps. Please ask if you require a more detailed condition report, or view gallery images closely.A rare example of the 'Crew Activity Plan' for the first Space Shuttle flight into orbit. This data plan is marked as the 'final' version and preceded the launch of the orbiter Columbia by about 6 weeks, allowing crew members John Young and Robert Crippen enough time to familiarise themselves with the highly complex and detailed instructions contained within these unassuming blue wraps. An historic document relating to a milestone in America's space program.⁂ During the original planning stages for the early Space Shuttle missions, NASA management under the Carter Administration felt a need to undertake initial tests of the system prior to the first orbital flight. To that end, Vice President Walter F. Mondale as chairman of the National Space Council suggested a suborbital flight landing at the emergency landing site at Dakar, Senegal. NASA further suggested that STS-1, instead of being an orbital flight, be used to test the Return To Launch Site (RTLS) abort scenario. This involved an abort being called in the first few moments after launch, and using its main engines, once the SRBs had been jettisoned, to power it back to the launch site. This scenario, while potentially necessary in the event of an early abort being called, was seen as being extremely dangerous. Young overruled both proposals, and STS-1 went ahead as the first orbital mission. The NASA managers were swayed by Young questioning the need for the test, and the weight of his opinion was especially strong as he was someone who not only had been to the Moon twice, but had walked on it. He would fly the Space Shuttle again on the STS-9 mission, a ten-day flight in 1983.'Let's not practice Russian roulette, because you may have a loaded gun there.'— John W. Young on testing the Return To Launch Site Abort." key words:

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End Time: 2025-01-08T13:22:34.000Z

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