WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

S79-25016 (13 December 1978) --- Astronaut Robert L. Crippen, pilot for the first space shuttle orbital flight test, descends steps leading into the water immersion facility (WIF) during a training session in the Johnson Space Center's training and test facility (Bldg. 260). The WIF affords one of two ways to simulate space extravehicular activity (EVA), the other being inside aircraft flying a parabolic curve. Crippen will be joined by astronaut John W. Young, commander, for the first space shuttle flight (STS-1).