1-154-935 - NASA/Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Space Shuttle Columbia on Earth, 1980s. Rear of Columbia, at Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, showing Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME). The Shuttle has three main engines which are used during the early stages of the launch. The Space Shuttle, the world's first partially reusable launch vehicle, first flew on 12 April 1981 and has been used for all America's manned space missions ever since.