WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Prime crew astronauts for the first space shuttle mission, Commander John Young and Pilot Robert Crippen, take a break from their intensive training schedule to pose for pictures in the flight deck of the orbiter Columbia. The Space Shuttle is controlled and most payloads are handled from the flight deck. Looking forward, the ship’s commander is seated on the left and the pilot on the right. Shown are the TV-like displays, and duplicate sets of conventional-looking hand controllers, pedals, levers and switches with which either astronaut can fly the craft alone. The two-man crew are wearing their ejection escape suits which will be worn only during the orbital flight test program and then only during the launch and landing phases of the mission.