Last year I covered the launch of STS-1, the first flight of the Space Shuttle Program, with a more in-depth article which you can find in the link below. Today, I thought it would be better to share just a fragment of that historic, albeit somewhat forgotten mission, by focusing on the launch of the first Space Shuttle from one particular point of view, in this case, the ABC feed, which happened to feature Gene Cernan for commentary.
https://www.xadara.com/35-years-ago-columbia-first-space-shuttle-flight/
There isn’t anything special about this footage beyond it’s historic nature, and it’s actual “as it was” account of the event on April 12th, 1981. It really just is what it is, which is the best way, I feel, to experience these events on irregular anniversaries.
The video does feature an explanation of the Shuttle launch process, which served well to educate the viewers on how this then-new machine functioned during launch.
Enjoy!