STS-3

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  13106 / 82022A Launch date - time  22 Mar 1982 - 16:00:00 UT Launch site  KSC, LC39A Launch vehicle  Space Shuttle (#3) Orbiter  Columbia OV-102 (#3) Primary payload  OSS-1 (160 kg) Mass (kg)  10301 Call Sign  Columbia Backup crew   Earth orbit on :    - Perigee / Apogee  241 / 249 km    - Inclination  38.0°    - Period  89.4 min Landing date - time  30 Mar 1982 - 16:04:46 UT Landing location  White Sands, Runway 17 Flight Duration  8d 00h 04m Nbr orbits  130

Flight Crew

Mission details:

STS-3 - Air-to-air views of STS-3 launch from T-38 chase aircraft - Credit: NASA.

Manned two crew. Payloads: Office of Space Science (OSS) experiments, Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR), Electro-phoresis Verification Test (EEVT), Plant Lignification Experiment. First and only landing by a shuttle at White Sands, New Mexico, after weather at Edwards did not permit landing there.

STS-3 - MOCR activity during STS-3 mission - Credit: NASA.

Orbits of Earth: 129. Distance traveled: 7,081,113 km. Orbiter Liftoff Mass: 106,782 kg. Orbiter Mass at Landing: 93,924 kg. Payload to Orbit: 10,301 kg. Payload Returned: 10,301 kg. Landed at: Runway 17 dry lake bed at White Sands Missile Rang. Landing Speed: 407 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 332 m. Landing Rollout: 4,187 m.

STS-3 - Pilot Fullerton dons anti-g and ejection escape suit (EES) on middeck - Credit: NASA.

Mission Name: STS-3 (3)
COLUMBIA (3)
Pad 39-A (15)
3rd Shuttle mission
3rd Flight OV-102
Extended mission
2nd RMS Mission
1st White Sands landing

STS-3 - Night firing of orbiter Columbia's thrusters - Credit: NASA.

Crew: (after STS-3, backup crews were no longer named)
Thomas K. Mattingly (1), Commander
Henry W. Hartsfield (0), Jr., Pilot

STS-3 - Pilot Fullerton plans menu as packaged food and beverages float around him - Credit: NASA. 66,057 bytes. 628 x 628 pixels.

Payload:
OSS-1,DFI(3),MLR,EEVT,HBT,SSIP(x1),GAS(x1)
Mission Objectives:
Demonstrate safe re-launch and safe return of the orbiter and crew. Verify the combined performance of the entire shuttle vehicle - orbiter, solid rocket boosters and external tank.
Payloads included the 8,740lb Office of Space Science (OSS-1) Pallet consisting of the Plant Lignification Experiment, the Plasma Diagnostic Package (PDP), the Vehical Charging and Potential (VCAP) experiment, the Space Shuttle Induced Atmosphere experiment, the Thermal Canister experiment, the Solar Flare X-Ray Polarimeter, the Solar Ultraviolet and Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM), the Contamination Monitor Package and the Foil Microabrasion Package. Also in the payload bay was the 11,048lb Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) Pallet and the 448lb Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package (ACIP).
The crew compartment housed the Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR) experiment and the Heflex Bioengineering Test (HBT) experiment.

STS-3 - Commander Lousma examines Insect Flight Motion Study - Credit: NASA. 57,191 bytes. 625 x 625 pixels.

STS-3 - View of the Columbia's aft section while over Morocco's Atlantic Coast - Credit: NASA. 35,048 bytes. 487 x 487 pixels.

Landing:
March 30, 1982,9:04:46 a.m. MST, Runway 17, Northrup Strip, White Sands, N.M. Rollout distance: 13,737 feet. Rollout time: 84 seconds. Landing site changed from Edwards to White Sands due to wet conditions on Edwards dry lake bed landing site. High winds at White Sands resulted in one day extension of mission, Some brake damage upon landing and dust storm caused extensive contamination of orbiter. Orbiter returned to KSC April 6, 1982. Landing Weight: 207,072 lbs.

STS-3 - Pilot Fullerton eats on middeck - Credit: NASA.

STS-3 - Payload bay, Northern Persian Gulf Region - Credit: NASA.

STS-3 - Los Angeles, CA. - Credit: NASA.

STS-3 - Commander Lousma is surrounded by a week's worth of trash on the middeck - Credit: NASA. 54,034 bytes. 599 x 599 pixels.

STS-3 - Commander Lousma sleeps on aft flight deck - Credit: NASA.

STS-3 - Earth Limb and Hurricane Clouds over Open Ocean, Location Unknown - Credit: NASA. 28,417 bytes. 472 x 472 pixels.

STS-3 - Air-to-air coverage of orbiter inspection during its descent - Credit: NASA. 14,826 bytes. 527 x 527 pixels.

STS-3 - EMU TV system test - Credit: NASA.