STS-2

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-2
insignia = Sts-2-patch.png shuttle = Columbia
launch_pad = 39-A
launch = November 12, 1981, 15:09:59 UTC
landing = November 14, 1981, 21:23:11 UTC
duration = 2d/06:13:12
altitude = 291 km
inclination = 38.03°
orbits = 37
distance = 1,729,654 km
crew_photo = Sts-2_crew.jpg
crew_caption = Engle (left) and Truly
previous = STS-1
next = STS-3

STS-2 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle "Columbia", that launched on November 12, 1981 [cite web |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |title=NASA - STS-2 |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-2.html |accessdate=2008-05-09 ] . This was the second space shuttle mission, and was also the second mission for "Columbia". It was thus the first time ever that a manned reusable spacecraft left the earth for its second mission and returned to space. Previously, the Gemini 2 unmanned, suborbital capsule was reused in another unmanned, suborbital test for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory project after significant refurbishment.

In the early planning stages of the Shuttle Program, STS-2 was the designated Skylab reboost mission. However, delays with the development and the deteriorating orbit of Skylab made the mission impossible. By the time STS-2 was launched, Skylab had long since de-orbited.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
*Joseph H. Engle (1) - Commander
*Richard H. Truly (1) - Pilot

Engle had been the original selection as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17, but was bumped in favour of "Jack" Schmitt when it became clear that it would be the last lunar landing. As a consequence, both Engle and Truly were both rookies during this mission (Engle had flown the X-15 above 80 km, the US definition of the edge of space, but was still considered a rookie), the first all rookie crew since Skylab 4. Following STS-2, NASA policy held that the commander had to be an astronaut who had already flown in space, making this the last all rookie crew of a NASA mission.

Backup crew

*Thomas K. Mattingly - Commander
*Henry W. Hartsfield - Pilot

Mission parameters

*Mass:
**"Orbiter Liftoff:" 230,707 lb (104,647 kg)
**"Orbiter Landing:" 204,258 lb (92,650 kg)
**"DFI Payload:" 18,777 lb (8,517 kg)
*Perigee: 138 mi (222 km)
*Apogee: 144 mi (231 km)
*Inclination: 38.0°
*Period: 89.0 min

Mission highlights

Launch of the second Space Shuttle took place on 12 November 1981, with liftoff at 10:10 a.m. EST.,7 months after STS-1. The planned launch time of 7:30 a.m. was delayed while a faulty data transmitting unit on Columbia was replaced. Originally the launch had been set for 9 October, but it was delayed by a nitrogen tetroxide spill during loading of the forward Reaction Control System (RCS) tanks. It was next scheduled for 4 November, but was again scrubbed when high oil pressures were discovered in two of the three Auxiliary Power Units (APU) that control the orbiter's hydraulic system. Prior to launch "Columbia" had spent 103 days in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF).

The flight marked the first time a manned space vehicle had been reflown with a second crew: Joseph H. Engle, commander, and Richard H. Truly, pilot. It again carried the DFI package, as well as the OSTA-l payload -- named for the NASA Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications -- which consisted of a number of remote sensing instruments mounted on a Spacelab pallet in the payload bay. These instruments, including the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-1), successfully carried out remote sensing of Earth resources, environmental quality, ocean and weather conditions. In addition, the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm was successfully operated in all its various operating modes for the first time.

two weeks prior.

Although the STS-2 mission had been planned for 5 days, the flight was cut short when one of the three fuel cells that produce electricity and drinking water failed.

The plan was to spend a few hours a day over the five-day mission testing the Canadarm, but a malfunction in one of the shuttle's fuel cells threw that plan off. The mission was shortened to two days, and the Canadarm tests were canceled. They would have been rescheduled for one of the following shuttle flights if it hadn’t been for the crew’s unwillingness to let it go.

“Fortunately at that time we did not have the almost continuous communication with the ground that we have now,” Joe Engle, the mission’s commander, said. “The pilot, Dick Truly, and I told everybody at home goodnight and looked at each other and decided that, well, it’s only one night. We were young, and we thought we’d just go ahead and get as much data as we could – stay up during the night to do it.”

Engle said he doubts Mission Control was fooled for long, but no one called them on it.

“We were tired and dehydrated the next day when we were getting ready to come back in, but we did get to accomplish 90 to 95 percent of the objectives of the mission,” Engle said. “In retrospect it was so much worth it.”

, after a 36 orbit, 933,757 mile (1,502,736 km) flight that lasted 2 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds. Commander Joe Engle manually flew the re-entry from Mach 25 throughout the entire approach and landing - the first and only time that a winged aerospace vehicle was manually flown from orbit to a landing.Fact|date=June 2008

Despite the truncated flight, more than 90 percent of the mission's objectives were achieved. Moreover, modifications of the water sound suppression system at the pad to absorb the solid rocket booster overpressure wave during launch were effective -- no tiles were lost and only 12 were damaged. Columbia was flown back to KSC on 25 November 1981.

This was also the first flight where O-ring blowby was observed. After the damage was discovered, another O-ring was intentionally damaged to a further degree. It was then put through a flight simulation at three times the flight pressure. It survived the test, and was endorsed as flight worthy. This same problem would occur on fourteen more shuttle flights before it destroyed the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.

STS-2 was one of only two shuttle flights to have its External Tank (ET) painted white. In an effort to reduce the Shuttle's overall weight STS-3 and all subsequent missions used an unpainted tank, which translated into a weight savings of approximately 272 kg / 600 pounds.National Aeronautics and Space Administration [http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news/news/releases/1999/99-193.html "NASA Takes Delivery of 100th Space Shuttle External Tank."] Press Release 99-193. 16 Aug 1999.] This lack of paint gives the ET its distinctive orange color now synonymous with the Space Shuttle.

Mission insignia

The two stars in the black field of the mission patch tell the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

ee also

* Space science
* Space shuttle
* List of space shuttle missions
* List of human spaceflights chronologically

References

External links

* [http://www.astroinfoservice.co.uk/mission/sts2/sts2data.html Astro Info STS-2 Data] Dead link|date=June 2008
* [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/missions/sts-2/mission-sts-2.html STS-2 Shuttle Mission]
* [http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/chron/sts-2.htm STS-2 Mission Chronology]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle02.htm STS-2 Video Highlights]
* [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/rms_anniversary.html Space Shuttle Canadarm Robotic Arm Marks 25 Years in Space]