Prior to launch, Columbia spent 103 days in the Orbiter Processing Facility. The flight marked the first time an orbital crewed space vehicle had been re-flown with a second crew. An additional 10-minute delay was introduced for a confidence review of systems status. Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) of 3 failed delaying launch by 2 hours 40 minutes while a replacement from the Challenger orbiter was flown in. Flushed APU's 1 and 3 gear boxes and changed clogged filters. That issue was attributed to hydrazine seepage contaminating the lubrication system in the APUs.ĪPU's 1 and 3 lube oil outlet pressure high at 100 to 112 PSIA. It was next scheduled for November 4, 1981, but was again scrubbed when high oil pressures were discovered in two of the three Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) that controlled the orbiter's hydraulic system. The tiles could be reached from platforms at Launch Complex 39A, allowing the work to take place without destacking Columbia and returning it to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). The spill necessitated the removal, decontamination and reapplication of over 300 thermal tiles. Originally, the launch had been set for October 9, 1981, but it was delayed by a nitrogen tetroxide spill during the loading of the forward Reaction Control System (RCS) tanks. The planned launch time of 12:30 UTC was delayed while a faulty data transmitting unit on Columbia was replaced with one from new Space Shuttle Challenger, which had been shipped overnight from the Palmdale, California factory where Challenger was still being manufactured. The second Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on November 12, 1981, with liftoff occurring at 15:10:00 UTC, 7 months after STS-1. STS-2 on final approach, coming in for its landing after re-entry, on November 14, 1981.
Aerial view of Columbia 's launch from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mission summary President Reagan talks to the crew of STS-2, in November 1981. Engle and Truly had also served as one of the two Shuttle crews during the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) program in 1977. Engle was the last NASA rookie to command his first flight until Raja Chari in 2021 with SpaceX Crew-3. As a consequence, both Engle and Truly were rookies during STS-2 (Engle had flown the X-15 above 80 km (50 mi) and so had earned USAF astronaut wings, but was still considered a NASA rookie), constituting the first all-rookie crew since Skylab 4. Crew PositionĮngle had been the original selection as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17, but was bumped in favor of geologist Harrison Schmitt when it became clear that the mission would be the last lunar landing. Skylab ultimately de-orbited on July 11, 1979, two years before the launch of STS-2. However, such a mission was impeded by delays with the Shuttle's development and the deteriorating orbit of Skylab. In the early planning stages of the Space Shuttle program, STS-2 was intended to be a reboost mission for the aging Skylab space station. During the mission, President Reagan called the crew of STS-2 from Mission Control Center in Houston. The OMS tests also helped adjust the Shuttle's orbit for use of the radar. One of the feats accomplished was various tests on the Orbital Maneuvring System (OMS) including starting and restarting the engines while in orbit and various adjustments to its orbit. Other experiments or tests included Shuttle Multispectral Infrared Radiometer, Feature Identification and Location Experiment, Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites, Ocean Color Experiment, Night/Day optical Survey of Lightning, Heflex Bioengineering Test, and Aerodynamic Coefficient Identification Package (ACIP). This mission tested the Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR) as part of the OSTA-1 (Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications) payload, along with a wide range of other experiments including the Shuttle robotic arm, commonly known as Canadarm.
STS-2 marked the first time that a crewed, reusable orbital vehicle returned to space. Truly, launched on November 12, 1981, and landed two days later on November 14, 1981. STS-2 was the second Space Shuttle mission conducted by NASA, and the second flight of the orbiter Columbia.
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