Before The Space Shuttle was declared fully mission capable, NASA flew four test flights with just two astronauts on board (a regular crew would be 5-7 astronauts), none of which was more dangerous that the first flight, STS-1 which was commanded by the most experienced astronaut of the day, Chief of the Astronaut Office, John Young - a veteran of two Gemini and two Apollo missions and who walked on the moon as part of Apollo 16. He selected rookie Bob Crippen.
NASA breathed a sign of relief when STS-1 made it into orbit on April 12, 1981 - the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight.
This successful two-day mission ended with the Space Shuttle Columbia touching down at a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert...
...where 20,000 spectators gathered to see Columbia land.
The final test flight, STS-4, landed on July 4, 1982...
...President and Mrs. Reagan were present that Independence Day to declare the Shuttle test flights over and the shuttle program ready for regular flights.
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STS-7 saw Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, launch on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Ride was chosen for this mission in part because of her expertise with the shuttle's robotic manipulator arm which was crucial to the launching of two commercial communication satellites - the primary purpose of this particular shuttle mission.
This is the first image of a Shuttle in orbit. It's difficult to see, but Ride has placed the manipulator arm so that it looks like the number 7, just as it does on the mission patch.
It's easier to see in this photo
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