Intro Music
On April 6th, Kennedy Space Center in Florida welcomed two of space flight's greatest heroes to help NASA commemorate a historic 25th anniversary.
STS-1 crew members John Young and Robert Crippen visited the center to celebrate the first flight of the space shuttle launched in April 1981.
Parsons: "We're here today to honor two outstanding astronaut test pilots, John Young and Bob Crippen, which flew Columbia on her maiden voyage."
For nearly one hour, the legendary duo thrilled an auditorium of more than 300 space center workers with adventurous tales of the inaugural mission.
Crippen: "minutes from sitting on the pad out there to going 17,500 mile an hour,
if the folks over there at Universal and Disney could duplicate that they'd get a lot more visitors, that's one heck, it is a heck of a ride."
Both Young and Crippen expressed their awe and pleasure in leading Columbia's maiden flight and NASA's return to space.
Young: "We practiced and practiced and practiced, everything worked! I was really surprised."
Crippen: "and when you look at the space shuttle it was a test pilot's dream."
Young emphasized his continuing belief that space flight is America's greatest endeavor.
Young: "Flying in space is really the key to the future."
After sharing their stories, Young and Crippen took questions from enthusiastic members of the audience.
Kennedy Space Center Director Jim Kennedy capped off the event with a special ceremony
dedicating the center's Firing Room 1 as the Young-Crippen Firing Room.
Kennedy: "John Young and Bob Crippen it's our pleasure on behalf of all of your friends at the Kennedy Space Center
to unveil a plaque commemorating your historic flight and successes with NASA.
You can see the STS-1 Columbia patch and below it says on the 25th anniversary of STS-1
April 12, 1981 the first orbital test flight of NASA's Space Shuttle Program,
we proudly name Firing Room 1 the YOUNG-CRIPPEN FIRING ROOM in tribute to
John W. Young, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot. Dated April 2006.