Timeline of the Space Shuttle Program

Key events and places in the history of NASA's Space Shuttle Program, formally initiated on January 5, 1972 by President Nixon. The first fully functional orbiter was the Columbia (designated OV-102), built in Palmdale, California. It was delivered to Kennedy Space Center on March 25, 1979, and was first launched on April 12, 1981. The shuttle program is scheduled for mandatory retirement in 2011, in accord with the directives President George W. Bush issued in the Vision for Space Exploration.