STS-3
1982 American crewed spaceflight / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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STS-3 was NASA's third Space Shuttle 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 and C. Gordon Fullerton, 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, and the only mission to land at the White Sands Space Harbor near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The orbiter was forced to land at White Sands due to flooding at its originally planned landing site, Edwards Air Force Base.
Quick Facts Names, Mission type ...
Names | Space Transportation System-3 |
---|---|
Mission type | Test flight |
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 1982-022A |
SATCAT no. | 13106 |
Mission duration | 7 days (planned) 8 days, 4 minutes, 46 seconds (achieved) |
Distance travelled | 5,300,000 km (3,300,000 mi) |
Orbits completed | 130 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Columbia |
Launch mass | 106,782 kg (235,414 lb) |
Landing mass | 93,924 kg (207,067 lb) |
Payload mass | 10,301 kg (22,710 lb) |
Crew | |
Crew size | 2 |
Members | |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | March 22, 1982, 16:00:00 UTC |
Rocket | Space Shuttle Columbia |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
Contractor | Rockwell International |
End of mission | |
Landing date | March 30, 1982, 16:04:46 UTC |
Landing site | White Sands Missile Range, Northrop Strip Runway 17 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 241 km (150 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 249 km (155 mi) |
Inclination | 38.00° |
Period | 89.40 minutes |
Instruments | |
| |
STS-3 mission patch Lousma and Fullerton |
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