According to Astronaut Fred Haise, Commander of three successful free flights and independent landings of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, “The test flights with the Space Shuttle Enterprise provided several important benefits to the overall Space Shuttle Program. They served to generate positive NASA media during the gap between Apollo Soyuz and the delayed first orbital mission.”
The success of the Enterprise’s missions allowed for future Space Shuttle travel and provided a beneficial “Early identification of problems and maturing of the challenging new multi computer digital system,” said Commander Haise. The Space Shuttle Enterprise and future Space Shuttle missions re-ignited the country’s passion for space travel and inspired a new generation.
Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in April 1981, the Columbia was the very first NASA orbiter to reach space. Over the course of its lifetime, it spent 300 days in space and orbited Earth 4000 times. This shuttle was an incredibly innovative step forward for space travel flying twenty-seven successful missions that helped expand our understanding of the universe.