Feb 20 1981
From The Space Library
Columbia, flagship of U.S. Space Shuttles, "proved that at long last it is ready to carry astronauts into orbit," said the Washington Star, describing "a successful and spectacular firing of its three powerful engines." At the end of the practice countdown, 8:45 a.m. EST, the three engines at the base of the delta-wing spaceship "flashed to life, spewing torrents of almost invisible flame, steam, and smoke over the launch pad" and sending a thunderclap of sound across KSC. "All engines are up and running," the control center announced. The world's most sophisticated rocket machine had generated 1.1 million pounds of thrust for 20 seconds, while the 122-foot-tall orbiter with fuel tank and boosters remained fixed to the pad by eight 3-foot steel bolts. In actual launch, explosive charges would sever the bolts, releasing the orbiter, and the solid-fuel boosters would help lift it to orbit.
During the final countdown, 526,000 gallons of fuel were pumped into the external fuel tank. Technical, weather, and procedural difficulties had postponed the firing, a first test of all shuttle systems combined, three times this week. Minor problems had delayed today's test another hour.
The Washington Post said that a labor walkout at KSC immediately after the 8:45 a.m. firing might threaten the April 7 date set for the actual launch of Columbia, About 800 aerospace workers, members of the International Association of Machinists employed by Boeing in spaceport support work, had struck in a pay dispute. Richard Smith, KSC director, said that the strike might jeopardize remaining operations; however, he noted that the union had a legal right to strike because its contract with Boeing had expired some time ago.
Columbia crew members John W. Young and Robert Crippen, who had waited out 2½ years of delays, viewed the test firing from the air; Young in a Shuttle training jet at 4,000-foot altitude, and Crippen in an identical craft about 1,900 feet higher. (W Star, Feb 20/81, A-1; W Post, Feb 21/81, A-7)
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