National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 1157922 / Local Identifier 255-HQ-318 - Space Shuttle: A Remarkable Flying Machine - National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (10/01/1958 - ). This film documents the first historic flight of a space shuttle, the U.S. spacecraft Columbia, which launched on April 12, 1981. The footage highlights liftoff, the onboard activities of astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, as well as the landing in Rogers Dry Lake bed in California. -