<p>On 12th April 1981, the space shuttle Columbia made history becoming the first ever reusable space craft to fly into orbit. It marked the start of a 30-year shuttle programme which revolutionised the history of manned space exploration. Using NASA and BBC archive we tell the story of this historic test flight.
Photo: NASA photo shows the first launchin ... Show More
Today
Car-free Sundays during the global oil crisis
In October 1973, the Netherlands was the only western European country to face a full oil embargo from the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, OAPEC.During the global oil crisis, they became the first country in Europe to introduce car-free Sundays with most priva ... Show More
10m 54s
Apr 2021
Episode 29: First Space Shuttle Flight: Astronaut Bob Crippen on the Legacy of STS-1 & Columbia
The spotlights came on in the predawn hours of April 12th 1981, illuminating a spacecraft like no other, the space shuttle. Just before liftoff, Columbia's crew climbed inside for the very first test flight into space.
28m 46s
Jun 2021
Apollo–Soyuz: The End of the Space Race
The space race officially began on October 4, 1957, at 7:28 PM Moscow Time. That was when Sputnik was launched into orbit as the first artificial satellite, and from that moment, it was on. But when did the space race end? That is a much trickier question and there is no formal a ... Show More
9m 30s