March 30, 2001 X-Press Issue

Volume 43 Issue 3 Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California March 30, 2001

What's in a Shuttle's name?

NASA Photo

The Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off for STS-1.

The first vessel named Columbia was a sloop (small ship) based in Boston in the late 1700s. Under Captain Robert Gray, the ship navigated the Columbia River. The river was later named after the ship. Later, Gray and crew became the first American sailors to circumnavigate the globe. The first U.S. Navy ship to do the same also bore the name Columbia, as did the command module for Apollo 11.

Columbia is considered to be the feminine personification of the United States. The name is derived from Christopher Columbus.

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