STS-3 was
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's third
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
mission, and was the third mission for the
Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. It launched on March 22, 1982, and landed eight days later on March 30, 1982. The mission, crewed by
Jack R. Lousma
Jack Robert Lousma (born February 29, 1936) is an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, retired United States Marine Corps officer, former naval aviator, NASA astronaut, and politician. He was a member of the second crew, Skylab-3, on ...
and
C. Gordon Fullerton
Charles Gordon Fullerton (October 11, 1936 – August 21, 2013) was a United States Air Force colonel, a USAF and NASA astronaut, and a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. , involved extensive orbital endurance testing of the ''Columbia'' itself, as well as numerous scientific experiments. STS-3 was the first shuttle launch with an unpainted
external tank
The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) was the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contained the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplied the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the ...
, and the only mission to land at the
White Sands Space Harbor
White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH) is a spaceport in New Mexico that was formerly used as a Space Shuttle runway, a test site for rocket research, and the primary training area used by NASA for Space Shuttle pilots practicing approaches and landin ...
near
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
. The orbiter was forced to land at White Sands due to flooding at its originally planned landing site,
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
.
Crew
Commander Jack R. Lousma previously flew as pilot of the second Skylab crew (
Skylab 3
Skylab 3 (also SL-3 and SLM-2) was the second crewed mission to the first American space station, Skylab. The mission began on July 28, 1973, with the launch of NASA astronauts Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, and Jack Lousma in the Apollo command ...
), staying aboard the space station for 59 days from July to September 1973. Lousma had previously been selected in 1978 as Pilot for
STS-2
STS-2 was the second Space Shuttle mission conducted by NASA, and the second flight of the orbiter ''Columbia''. The mission, crewed by Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly, launched on November 12, 1981, and landed two days later on November 14, ...
, which was then scheduled as a
Skylab
Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...
reboost mission. When delays in the Shuttle's development prevented ''Columbia'' from being launched in time to rendezvous with Skylab in 1979, STS-2 Commander
Fred W. Haise Jr. retired from NASA and Lousma was then moved up as Commander of STS-3. Lousma also served on the support crews for
Apollo 9
Apollo 9 (March 313, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program. Flown in low Earth orbit, it was the second crewed Apollo mission that the United States launched via a Saturn V rocket, and was the first flight of the ful ...
,
10 and
13; he was the
CAPCOM
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
during the time of the latter mission's near-disastrous accident. He was also selected as backup Docking Module Pilot for the
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975.
Fullerton was a rookie who transferred to NASA in 1969 after the cancelation of the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
's
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites, and was a s ...
(MOL) program. Fullerton had previous experience with the Shuttle as he had flown the shuttle ''
Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterprise ...
'' as Pilot alongside Haise during the
Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) program in 1977. He also served as part of the support crew for
Apollo 14
Apollo 14 (January 31, 1971February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. It was the last of the " H missions", landings at s ...
,
15,
16 and
17.
Backup crew
Support crew
*
Terry J. Hart (ascent CAPCOM)
[STS-3 Mission Transcript](_blank)
Internet Archive. Retrieved October 24, 2012
*
Steven R. Nagel
Steven Ray Nagel (October 27, 1946 – August 21, 2014), (Colonel (United States), Col, United States Air Force, USAF), was an American astronaut, Aeronautical engineering, aeronautical and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer, test pilot, ...
(entry CAPCOM)
*
George D. Nelson
*
Sally K. Ride
Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts ...
*
Brewster H. Shaw
Brewster Hopkinson Shaw Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is a retired NASA astronaut, U.S. Air Force colonel, and former executive at Boeing. Shaw was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 6, 2006.
Shaw is a veteran of three Space Shuttle ...
*
David M. Walker
Mission summary
''Columbia'' was launched from
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
at 16:04
UTC, on March 22, 1982, the planned launch date. This was the first launch with an unpainted
external tank
The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) was the component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle that contained the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. During lift-off and ascent it supplied the fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the ...
(ET). The launch was delayed by one hour due to the failure of a heater on a
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
-gas ground support line. Prior to the launch, ''Columbia'' had spent only 70 days in the Orbiter Processing Facility – a record checkout time.
![STS-3 Canadarm captures PDP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/STS-3_Canadarm_captures_PDP.jpg)
The primary objectives of the flight were to continue testing the Remote Manipulator System (
Canadarm
Canadarm or Canadarm1 (officially Shuttle Remote Manipulator System or SRMS, also SSRMS) is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads. After the Space Shuttle ''Columbia' ...
), and to carry out extensive thermal testing of ''Columbia'' by exposing its tail, nose and top to the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
for varying periods of time. The crew found that prolonged exposure to the Sun caused the cargo bay doors to warp slightly, preventing them from closing fully. Rolling the orbiter to balance temperatures around the orbiter resolved the issue.
[ ]
In addition, in its payload bay, ''Columbia'' again carried the Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) package, and OSS-l (named for the NASA Office of Space Science and Applications) which consisted of a number of instruments mounted on a
Spacelab
Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...
pallet, intended to obtain data on the near-Earth environment and the extent of contamination caused by the orbiter itself. Among other experiments, the OSS pallet contained a
X-ray detector
X-ray detectors are devices used to measure the flux, spatial distribution, spectrum, and/or other properties of X-rays.
Detectors can be divided into two major categories: imaging detectors (such as photographic plates and X-ray film (photograp ...
for measuring the polarization of X-rays emitted by
solar flare
A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phe ...
s.
A test canister for the Small Self-Contained Payload program – also known as the
Getaway Special
Getaway Special was a NASA program that offered interested individuals, or groups, opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the Space Shuttle. Over the 20-year history of the program, over 170 individual missions were flown. The program, whi ...
(GAS) – was mounted on one side of the payload bay.
For the first time, a number of experiments were carried in the shuttle's mid-deck lockers. These included an Electrophoresis Equipment Verification Test experiment to study the separation of biological components, and a Mono-disperse Latex Reactor experiment, to produce uniform
micrometer Micrometer can mean:
* Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw
* American spelling of micrometre
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; ...
-sized
latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...
particles. The first Shuttle Student Involvement Project (SSIP) – a study of
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
motion – also was carried in a mid-deck locker.
A variety of minor problems were experienced during the flight. The orbiter's
toilet
A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...
malfunctioned on first use resulting in, according to Lousma, "eight days of colorful flushing"; one
Auxiliary Power Unit
An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115&n ...
(APU) overheated (but worked properly during descent); both crew members experienced some
space sickness
Space adaptation syndrome (SAS) or space sickness is a condition experienced by as many as half of all space travelers during their adaptation to weightlessness once in orbit. It is the opposite of terrestrial motion sickness since it occurs whe ...
; and on March 26, 1982, three communications links were lost.
STS-3 was planned as a 7-day flight. The landing was moved to Northrop Strip (later renamed
White Sands Space Harbor
White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH) is a spaceport in New Mexico that was formerly used as a Space Shuttle runway, a test site for rocket research, and the primary training area used by NASA for Space Shuttle pilots practicing approaches and landin ...
) at
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
since the planned landing site at
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
had flooded. Lousma and Fullerton chose to land at White Sands instead of the new
Shuttle Landing Facility
The Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) also known as Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) is an airport located on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is a part of the Kennedy Space Center and was used by Space Shuttle for lan ...
(SLF) at
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
(KSC) because they had trained there. A large-scale equipment movement (reportedly "40 train carloads") from Edwards Air Force Basa to White Sands was undertaken before and during the mission, to ensure that a landing could be fully supported.
Although time-sensitive equipment movements of this nature were originally to be handled by Air Force cargo planes, NASA altered those plans and moved the equipment in two dedicated trains over the - distance via the
Santa Fe Railroad
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...
and the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
. The choice to move the support equipment by rail saved NASA approximately US$2 million in transportation costs. High winds at White Sands reduced visibility and delayed the landing by a day. As all mission objectives had been accomplished, the crew enjoyed what Lousma described as "an extra day in our world's favorite vacation spot ... We finally had a chance to look out the window and enjoy being there".
![STS-3 infrared on reentry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/STS-3_infrared_on_reentry.jpg)
As on the previous day's wave off, strong westerly high level winds were in excess of system verification values. As a result, ''Columbia'' had to fly a less desirable high "right base" turn onto final approach instead of the more usual and forgiving overhead pattern. At this stage in the test program the Orbiter had significantly less electronic energy management information available to the crew than on later missions. With the runway visible only on his side Fullerton called the turn in for his commander. Their escorting T-38s were led by astronaut
Dick Covey and NASA photographer Pete Stanley. The final approach was in part flown by the shuttle's
autopilot
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...
, but the autoland software was not complete so it could not include an automatic landing. Rolling out on final approach, the autopilot was reengaged, and responded by closing the speedbrakes (despite the orbiter being on profile), resulting in increased speed. The autopilot then commanded full speedbrakes, and kept oscillating like this for some time. Lousma left the autopilot activated in order to gather data on its behavior, but disconnected it again at a very late stage to touch down manually. The landing was also one of the more dramatic of the program, with the landing gear deploying at an altitude of at a speed of and locking just five seconds before touchdown. Early automatic speed brake closure had resulted in high speed on the inner glideslope and Lousma opted to touchdown fast rather than excessively long. The nose then began to lower at greater than planned airspeed and raised again right before nose-gear touchdown. Touchdown occurred at 16:04:46UTC on March 30, 1982, on runway 17 at Northrop Strip.
Former
Administrator of NASA
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to ...
Charles F. Bolden Jr. stated that Lousma was trained to disengage autoland by moving the control stick. He rolled the stick, but did not pitch it sufficiently, so autoland was still partially engaged until Fullerton warned him, causing Lousma to pitch up; Bolden, who had worked on the autoland system early in his astronaut career prior to his first space flight, stated in 2004 that the crew "saved the vehicle" by doing so.
[ ]
STS-3 was the only shuttle mission to land at White Sands Missile Range. The unexpectedly difficult landing and post flight conditions damaged the shuttle, requiring extensive repair at KSC. So much
gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...
dust covered ''Columbia'' that Bolden recalled, "I flew it several flights later on my first flight,
STS-61-C, and when we got on orbit, there was ''still'' gypsum coming out of everything! They thought they had cleaned it ... but it was just ''unreal'' what it had done!" Dust continued to be found in the spacecraft for the rest of its career.
''Columbia'' made 130 orbits and traveled during its 8day, 0 hour, 4minute, 46second flight. A total of 36 thermal protection tiles were lost and 19 were damaged. The orbiter was returned to Kennedy Space Center on April 6, 1982. STS-3 was the last mission for which NASA named a complete backup crew.
While on a post-mission
goodwill tour
A goodwill tour is a tour by someone or something famous to a series of places, with the purpose of expressing benevolent interest or concern for a group of people or a region, improving or maintaining a relationship between parties, and exhibiting ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Lousma displayed a photo he had taken from space of a "beautiful emerald-colored lake" in China and was surprised by the audience reaction. He later learned that the picture was likely of a secret
atomic test
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...
site for the
Chinese nuclear weapons program
The People's Republic of China has developed and possesses weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and nuclear weapons. The first of China's nuclear weapons tests took place in 1964, and its first hydrogen bomb test occurred in 1967 ...
.
Mission insignia
On the mission patch, ''Columbia'' is shown emerging from a star, representing the bright aspiration of space exploration. The orbiter is seen grabbing a PDP with the Canadarm, and is shown with many experiments in its payload bay. The three large orange triangular points of the mission patch indicate the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.
Wake-up calls
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the
Project Gemini
Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...
, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...
.
[ ] Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.
See also
*
List of human spaceflights
This is a list of all human spaceflights throughout history. Beginning in 1961 with the flight of Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1, human spaceflight occurs when a human crew flies a spacecraft into outer space. Human spaceflight is distinguished f ...
*
List of Space Shuttle missions
References
External links
STS-3 mission summary NASA.
NSS.
Spaceflight Now.
{{Orbital launches in 1982
Space Shuttle missions
Spacecraft launched in 1982
March 1982 events
1982 in Florida
Spacecraft which reentered in 1982
1982 in New Mexico