STS-4

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STS-4 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Columbia, launched June 27, 1982. This was the fourth space shuttle mission, and was also the fourth mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

• Thomas K. Mattingly (2) - Commander
• Henry W. Hartsfield (1) - Pilot

Backup crew

From STS-4 onwards, NASA halted the appointment and training of complete backup flight crews. Instead, individual flight crew members may have designated backups who could take their place within the prime crew. The decision on whether to appoint a reserve crew member is made on a per-flight basis by flight management teams at Johnson Space Center. Consequently, the last NASA flight crew to have a full-time backup crew was STS-3.

Mission parameters

• Mass:
• Orbiter Liftoff: 241,662 lb (109,616 kg)
• Orbiter Landing: 208,941 lb (94,774 kg)
• Payload: 24,491 lb (11,109 kg)
• Perigee: 183 mi (295 km)
• Apogee: 188 mi (302 km)
• Inclination: 28.5°
• Period: 90.3 min

Mission highlights

This mission marked the first time the Space Shuttle was launched precisely at its scheduled launch time. It also was the last research and development flight in the program. Liftoff took place on June 27, 1982, at 11:00 a.m. EST, with Thomas K. Mattingly as commander, and Henry W. Hartsfield as pilot. Its cargo consisted of the first Getaway Special payloads which included nine scientific experiments provided by students from Utah State University, and a classified Air Force payload.

In the middeck, a Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor were flown for the second time. The crew conducted a lightning survey with handheld cameras, and performed medical experiments on themselves for two student projects. They also operated the RMS with an instrument called the Induced Environment Contamination Monitor mounted on its end designed to obtain information on gases or particles being released by the orbiter in flight.

STS-4 was a planned 7-day mission and landing occurred on July 4, 1982, at 9:10 a.m. PDT, on the 15,000 ft (4.6 km) concrete Runway 22 at Edwards AFB -- the first Shuttle landing on a concrete runway.

The flight lasted 7 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes, 40 seconds. Distance traveled was 2.9 million miles (4.7 million km) in 112 complete orbits. All mission objectives were achieved, although the two SRBs were lost when their main parachutes failed causing the empty casings to hit the water at high speeds and sink. The Columbia was returned to KSC on July 15.

Mission insignia

The path of the red, white, and blue in the mission patch tell the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

See also

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

External links

• STS-4 Shuttle Mission
• STS-4 Mission Chronology
• STS-4 Video Highlights

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Last updated on Friday February 22, 2008 at 12:01:29 PST (GMT -0800)
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