STS-4

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STS-4
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	STS-4
Space shuttle	Columbia
Launch pad	39-A
Launch date	27 June 1982, 15:00:00 UTC
Landing	4 July 1982, 16:09:31 UTC
Mission duration	7 days 01:09:31
Number of orbits	113
Orbital altitude	365 km
Orbital inclination	28.5°
Distance traveled	4,700,000 km
Crew photo
L-R Hartsfield and Mattingly
Related missions
Previous mission Next mission STS-3 STS-5

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

Crew

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 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

The Induced Environment Contaminant Monitor (IECM) is grappled by the RMS

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 27 June 1982, at 11:00 a.m. EST, with Ken Mattingly as commander, and Henry 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 mid-deck, a Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System and the Mono-disperse Latex Reactor were flown for the second time. The crew conducted a lightning survey with hand-held 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 4 July 1982, at 9:10 a.m. PDT, on the 15,000 ft (4.6 km) concrete runway 22 at Edwards AFB; it was the first Shuttle landing on a concrete runway. The crew was met by President Ronald Reagan and his wife.

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. 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.

Wake-up calls

A tradition for NASA human spaceflights since the days of Gemini, mission crews are played a special musical track at the start of each day in space. ^[1] Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.^[1]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to category:      STS-4

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

References

External links

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