Flights




Columbia flew 28 missions, gathering 300.74 days spent in space with 4,808 orbits and a total distance of 125,204,911.5 miles (201,497,773.1 km) until STS-107.

Though having been in service during the Shuttle-Mir and International Space Station programs, Columbia did not fly any missions that visited a space station. The other three active orbiters at the time had visited both Mir and the ISS at least once. Columbia was not suited for high-inclination missions.

# Date Designation Launch pad Landing location Notes
1 1981, April 12 STS-1 39-A Edwards Air Force Base First shuttle mission.
2 1981, November 12 STS-2 39-A Edwards Air Force Base First re-use of crewed space vehicle
3 1982, March 22 STS-3 39-A White Sands Space Harbor First mission with an unpainted external tank.
First and only space shuttle landing at White Sands.
4 1982, June 27 STS-4 39-A Edwards Air Force Base Last shuttle R&D flight
5 1982, November 11 STS-5 39-A Edwards Air Force Base First four-person crew, first deployment of commercial satellite.
6 1983 November 28 STS-9 39-A Edwards Air Force Base First six-person crew, first Spacelab.
7 1986, January 12 STS-61-C 39-A Edwards Air Force Base Representative Bill Nelson (D-FL) on board the final successful shuttle flight before the Challenger disaster
8 1989, August 8 STS-28 39-B Edwards Air Force Base Launched KH-11 reconnaissance satellite; first launch of Columbia from Launch Complex 39-B
9 1990, January 9 STS-32 39-A Edwards Air Force Base Retrieved Long Duration Exposure Facility
10 1990, December 2 STS-35 39-B Edwards Air Force Base Carried multiple X-ray and UV telescopes
11 1991, June 5 STS-40 39-B Edwards Air Force Base 5th Spacelab – Life Sciences-1
12 1992, June 25 STS-50 39-A Kennedy Space Center (due to Hurricane Darby) U.S. Microgravity Laboratory 1 (USML-1)
13 1992, October 22 STS-52 39-B Kennedy Space Center Deployed Laser Geodynamic Satellite II
14 1993, April 26 STS-55 39-A Edwards Air Force Base German Spacelab D-2 Microgravity Research
15 1993, October 18 STS-58 39-B Edwards Air Force Base Spacelab Life Sciences
16 1994, March 4 STS-62 39-B Kennedy Space Center United States Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2)
17 1994, July 8 STS-65 39-A Kennedy Space Center International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2)
18 1995, October 20 STS-73 39-B Kennedy Space Center United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2)
19 1996, February 22 STS-75 39-B Kennedy Space Center Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R)
20 1996, June 20 STS-78 39-B Kennedy Space Center Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS)
21 1996, November 19 STS-80 39-B Kennedy Space Center Third flight of Wake Shield Facility (WSF) and longest Shuttle flight
22 1997, April 4 STS-83 39-A Kennedy Space Center Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL), cut short
23 1997, July 1 STS-94 39-A Kennedy Space Center Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL), reflight
24 1997, November 19 STS-87 39-B Kennedy Space Center United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4)
25 1998, April 13 STS-90 39-B Kennedy Space Center Neurolab – Spacelab
26 1999, July 23 STS-93 39-B Kennedy Space Center Deployed Chandra X-ray Observatory; first female Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins; last launch of Columbia from Launch Complex 39-B
27 2002, March 1 STS-109 39-A Kennedy Space Center Hubble Space Telescope service mission (HSM-3B)
28 2003, January 16 STS-107 39-A Did not land (Planned to land at Kennedy Space Center) A multi-disciplinary microgravity and Earth science research mission. Shuttle destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 and all seven astronauts on board killed.

Mission and tribute insigniasedit

NASA Orbiter Tribute for Space Shuttle Columbia
Mission insignia for Columbia flights
Sts-1-patch.png
Sts-2-patch.png
Sts3-patch.png
Sts-4-patch.png
STS-5 mission insignia.png
Sts9 flight insignia.svg
STS-61-c-patch.png
STS-61-E patch.png
STS-1
STS-2
STS-3
STS-4
STS-5
STS 9
STS-61-C
STS-61-E*
Sts-28-patch.png
STS-32 patch.png
Sts-35-patch.svg
Sts-40-patch.png
Sts-50-patch.png
Sts-52-patch.png
Sts-55-patch.png
Sts-58-patch.png
STS-28
STS-32
STS-35
STS-40
STS-50
STS-52
STS-55
STS-58
Sts-62-patch.png
Sts-65-patch.png
Sts-73-patch.png
Sts-75-patch.png
Sts-78-patch.png
Sts-80-patch.png
Sts-83-patch.png
Sts-94-patch.png
STS-62
STS-65
STS-73
STS-75
STS-78
STS-80
STS-83
STS-94
Sts-87-patch.svg
Sts-90-patch.svg
Sts-93-patch.png
STS-109 patch.svg
STS-107 Flight Insignia.svg
STS-118 patch new.svg
STS-121 patch.svg
STS-87
STS-90
STS-93
STS-109
STS-107
STS-118**
STS-121***

* Mission canceled following the Challenger disaster.

** Mission flown by Endeavour due to loss of Columbia on STS-107.

*** Mission flown by Discovery due to loss of Columbia on STS-107.

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