The first Space Shuttle mission, STS (Space Transportation System)-1, was launched April 12, 1981, and returned April 14. Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the earth 36 times in this 54.5-hour mission. It was the first US manned space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 15, 1975.

All Space Shuttle flights are referenced by their sequential chronological number, prefaced by the acronym "STS", which stands for "Space Transportation System", which is the proper way to refer to the collective parts of the Space Shuttle technologies used together.

There were only two crew members onboard the Space Shuttle in its first mission.

Space Shuttle Columbia flew 28 flights since 1981. On February 1, 2003, it disintegrated during re-entry over Texas, on its 28th mission, killing all seven crew members.


More about this flight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-1