First Space Shuttle Astronauts mark STS-1, STS-2 35th Anniversaries

NASA's first space shuttle launch, 35 years ago, demonstrated that a winged orbiter could lift off like a rocket and land like an airplane, able to fly again. For the two astronauts who flew on that second mission — the world's first launch of a "used" orbital spacecraft — that maiden mission, crewed by John Young and Bob Crippen, also cleared a large hurdle for the space shuttle flights that followed, beginning with their own. "It was a great confidence builder that Crip and John fl