Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen sit in the 2,000 ton space shuttle Columbia on the pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida waiting for the attached main engine system with 500,000 gallons of fuel that will take the shuttle out of Earth’s gravitational grasp and into orbit using 42,000,000 horsepower. When in orbit Columbia will orbit the Earth at almost 18,000 miles per hour. Columbia spends three days orbiting the Earth at about 170 miles and then returns to the atmosphere for landing that will determine if the tile system on the shuttle will protect the craft and its crew from the 2500 degree heat. Columbia lands on April 14th at Edwards Air Force Base in California ushering in a new era of space exploration. This episode includes commentary from astronauts Young and Crippen about various aspects of the flight.