STS-3: Postflight Press Conference

[Music] the space transportation system America's hope for routine access to space but before the Hope can become a reality the system must complete the two remaining missions of its flight test program proving itself a reusable reliable transport into space many of the flight test objectives have have already been accomplished a spectacular first launch then successful second launch of the same spacecraft two pinpoint Landings dramatic decreases in vehicle turnaround time successful un orbit checkout of the remote manipulator system and solid evidence Colombia can be used as a scientific platform for Earth observation the third flight will push the system even f further proving Colombia can also be used for space observation completing extensive tests of the remote manipulator system checking out equipment to be used on later flights for medical research and Drug manufacturing testing an unpainted external fuel tank which costs and weighs less than the two previous tanks and planning the mission to last seven full days so that extensive thermal soap tests can be done on the vehicle and its systems sts3 is the most challenging and ambitious mission of the flight test program so far much needs to be accomplished for it to be a success and for the orbital flight test program to reach its ultimate goal routine space flights the goal of sts3 is to bring the system one step closer to that reality less than one week before liftoff heavy rains at Edwards Air Force Base in California flooded Rogers dry lake bed making a landing there impossible it was decided to land the Orbiter Instead at Northrup strip the alternate Landing site at White Sands New Mexico Northrup strip is located in the northern part of white Sand's National monument in the middle of the US Army's White Sands Missile Range the remoteness of the area a dry season that alternates with California's rainy season and the availability of the Army's aircraft tracking Network all contributed to NASA's decision to name Northrup strip as an alternate Landing site several years ago a microwave Landing system used by the Orbiter during automatically controlled phases of approach and Landing was installed on one Runway and a stiffle Derk was erected for hoisting Columbia at top the 747 aircraft which would Ferry it back to Florida but the equipment necessary to Safe Colombia after landing and prepare it for its trip back to the cape was still at Edwards Air Force Base over 1,000 M from White Sands and liftoff was only 4 days away a highly organized pre-planned operation was set in motion by NASA and implemented by the Department of Defense to move the tons of equipment and supplies from California to New Mexico two trains were chartered from the Santa Fe railroad for the [Music] journey the cargo reached El Paso Texas near Suns set the second day there the Southern Pacific Railroad took [Music] over when the trains reached Hollman Air Force Base they were unloaded and the mobile equipment was driven the remaining 23 Mi the non-mobile cargo was transported by [Music] trucks in concert with this operation a plan to erect temporary facilities on the remote lake bed for support Personnel news media and the public was also set in motion a Mobility unit from Hollman Air Force Base was called in to build shelters Barracks a viewing area 5 mi from The Landing site for the public and a press area for the news media within 3 days all construction was complete northr strip which before consisted of only a Runway and control tower was now a total encampment ready to Safe Colombia after landing and prepared for its trip back to Florida this task could never have been completed without support from both the Army and Air Force with their help northr strip was now ready to support the landing tus 15 the sequencer on the Orbiter is now controlling the final second 10 we are go for main engine ignition 8 7 six we have main engine [Music] rolling over Roger Columbia rolling [Music] to the bo guys Roger sounds [Music] good Bia Houston you're go Toronto up go up we're going here [Music] too onia Houston negative seats negative [Music] seats pc50 [Music] pc50 okay there's [Music] one3 the first this ride is real bar the crew for sts3 Commander Jack LMA my Marine Colonel and Veteran of the sky laab 3 mission that stayed in space 59 days the Pilot Air Force Colonel Gordon Fullerton this was his first time in [Music] space Fullerton was given primary responsibility for the extensive remote manipulator system tests done on this flight with him at the controls the arm demonstrated its payload handling capability okay we got a capture a Apple hey that's good news rigidized and got all a normal that's super and we're seeing the data the induced environment contamination monitor was to be unburned first on this flight however the arm's wrist camera malfunctioned making viewing the contamination monitor very difficult since the plasma diagnostic package was also to be unired and because its guide posts could easily be seen with the aid of binoculars it was substituted for the contamination monitor proving again the flexibility of the system the clearance between the plasma Diagnostics package and the other experiment ments on the pallet was only 2 in a tight fit but one which fiton was able to master within 5 [Music] minutes seven Auto trajectories Computer control maneuvers of the arm on an invisible plot were evaluated on sts3 using the plasma Diagnostics package at the same time the experiment also measured changes in the plasma field in and around the payload Bay as Colombia traveled through the ionosphere and monitored electromagnetic interference between the ionosphere and electronic equipment on board shuttle the new knowledge will help scientists understand how larger celestial bodies move through plasmas and Aid engineers in designing sensing equipment for future shuttle [Music] experiments several times during the mission the arm and plasma diagnostic package operated in conjunction with a fast pulse electron generator to study the interaction of a stream of electrons emitted into the ionosphere the result a glow caused by atoms in the plasma being disturbed by the electron stream hopefully this new knowledge will lead to a better understanding of how the same phenomena might occur in nature for instance in the Aurora B [Music] Alis other experiments studied the electrical buildup on the Orbiter as it moved through the ionosphere and contamination in and around the payload Bay created by out gassings and Thruster firings these phenomena could affect scientific instruments and sensitive astronomy observations on future shuttle [Music] flights on board research in life sciences involves several instruments which were stored on the mid deck the plant lignification and weightlessness experiment was a preliminary study of lignan growth in zero gravity it is hoped that in the absence of gravity Woody plants might produce less lignan an indigestible skeletal substance which provides upward growth and instead produce digestible nutrients such as proteins and carbohydrates a study of insects in flight was also done on sts3 Commander LMA prepared to examine the effects of weightlessness on some bees moths and flies while on the ground the principal investigator high school student Todd Nelson from Rose Creek Minnesota did the same Todd who designed and developed the experiment himself was one of 10 finalists in The National Space Shuttle student involvement project a joint venture of NASA and the National Science Teachers Association his experiment flew on sts3 the other finalists experiments will fly on later flights the purpose of Todd's study was to compare the natural flight characteristics of three species would there be behavior in zero gravity the insects were chosen primarily because of their different Wing sizes Todd wanted to find out if that factor would affect their flight behavior in zero gravity after recording his findings in the Earth's gravity he watched the crew report from space okay hello there space fans here we are in the Good Ship Columbia speeding over the United States at 150 miles flying pretty fast about 5 m per second but there are some Among Us who are actually flying faster than we are and in this box they're not only flying along with us but they are flying themselves so they're actually going a lot faster than we I think most of them have positioned themselves around the um uh periphery of the box or fasten themselves onto something andless we agitate them a little bit and make them get going now it seems like the MS uh are doing a little better than the bees the bees are U uh just sort of tumbling around without flapping their wings but the uh Ms every once in a while you can see that one flying right there he uh seems to have adapted to some degree to zero gravity and um there are a few bees like this one here he's just floating around he's taking the easy way out like Gordo is now you don't see Gordo flapping his wings in z g Todd gathered much data from his experiment and with the aid of his sponsor the avionics division of Honeywell Incorporated will report the findings in a paper to the National Science Teachers [Music] Association the electro flesus experiment verification test checked out the Prototype of a more elaborate manufacturing device which will be flown later on the device separated chemical agents in fluids hey ladies and gentlemen uh good evening and good afternoon space fans I'd like to tell you what we're doing here in the space shuttle Columbia we're U speeding over the world at about 17,500 mph now over the United States and um we're doing some medical experiments among other things uh this one I have right here is called an electro foris experiment it simply U is a electrical way to separate out various chemical agents that uh cannot be separated out very easily on the ground and it's a very expensive process however in Zerg these chemical chemical agents can be separated up and um used for uh various pharmaceutical and other medical purposes but basically what we have here is um a a tub in [Applause] [Music] process it's inside of this um container and Tu was just like this and has a fluid inside which is actually a carrier for the uh agent which is being separated out we have a sample that we use to uh place right in this slot in here and the sample is uh contained in the [Music] freezer inside of this freezer are uh several small samples which are used in this electroforesis experiment and then once the experiment is processed and the various chemical agents are are allowed to [Applause] move along this tube and are separated out uh when the process is completed in about an hour then the whole sample is frozen and it is then taken and placed back in this C freezer for um analysis back under theground but um this is the Forerunner of a pharmaceutical experiment and uh I think that this will be one of the um major experiments and one one of the major industrial uses of space in the future is in the area area of pharmaceuticals and this is just a forerunner one and uh it looks like it's working very well and we'll have very promising results so um we're glad to have you with us today and we hope that U you will keep following the Flight of the pumby as we go on for the next week here comes the the uh Studio TV technician down to put in a brief appearance [Applause] here s is that the vampire that goes with the uh red blood cells like that in some of the most important tests of the mission thermal soaks of Columbia the vehicle was maneuvered into an attitude relative to the sun which exposed the structure to either extremely hot or extremely cold temperatures Mission controllers determined the effect of the soaks on the vehicle and its systems by monitoring the readings of temperature sensitive instrumentation located at various places on the or orbitor structure they also devised a simple way to display the attitude of Columbia in relation to the sun using a device called the thermodo so named because the object representing the Orbiter is a popular animal in Texas the armadillo the position of the armadillo represented the attitude of the vehicle and the flag reported its thermal status the bottom part of the device called the consuma Dillo showed the status of consumables throughout the flight after maintaining attitude for an extended period of time the payload bay doors warped temporarily which was expected because of the extreme temperatures incountered to measure the exact amount of warpage the doors were put in the closed [Music] position and the amount of Gap or overlap was measured by the crew using a theodoly [Music] instrument then the doors were reopened for the next thermal test the astronauts reported much less warpage than was predicted by pre-flight engineering studies good news to flight planners and Commercial users for future shuttle flights special measures will not need to be taken to cool down or warm up the doors before they can be [Music] closed although the astronauts had little appetite and difficulty sleeping their first 2 Days in space they gradually adjusted to the weightless environment LMA suffered motion sickness and fton experienced loss of appetite a side effect of the motion sickness pill he took pre-flight the flight surgeon prescribed food and sleep and Mission planners scheduled a less strenuous workload for flight day three so that the astronauts could recuperate the first zerogravity treadmill was used on sts3 it was designed by astronaut William Thornton to simulate running in an earth gravity since the muscles do not have to work as hard in zero gravity regular exercise must be maintained for their Welcome Home the crew wanted to look their best with only one personal hygiene area on board Jack and Gordon had to take turns in fact because of the limited storage space on board the crew shared almost everything with each other [Music] [Laughter] back on Earth winds were beginning to pick up at Northrup strip John Young commander on sts1 simulated the same approach to Runway 23 that the astronauts might be attempting very shortly Young reported to Mission Control there's about 2 miles of visibility on Runway 17 and one Runway 23 is covered up in sand I think we ought to knock this off over okay we got you John we copy and concur I'm sorry you guys not your fault the wind was gusting over 50 knots and deorbit burn to put Colombia in the correct attitude for entry into Earth's atmosphere was only 40 minutes away Columbia Houston through Ascension over Roger got you five by Jack we uh talked to the STA again between Bermuda and Ascension and U as you could probably surmise the winds have been coming up all day uh it was still acceptable until uh his last pass but during John's last pass the visibilities were unacceptable and the turbulence was severe so it's not a good day and we're going to wave off for 24 hours over [Applause] okay we've had a good drill the good drill showed once again the flexibility of the space transportation system flight controllers altered the flight plan just minutes before committing to entry Colombia had enough fuel and other critical supplies to last at least 24 more hours in fact 72 more hours if necessary LMA and fiton went to bed early that night fastening themselves to restraints behind their ejection seats a favorite place to sleep during the mission tomorrow they would attempt to land at northr strip earlier in the day before the winds began to gust call Roger go ahead Gordo okay we're looking straight down at north of it looks a lot better today than it did yesterday and it is a lot better there Gordo and uh what kind of a turn are you betting on for two three at this point Steve okay Jack first of all you are go for the deorbit burn and the winds right now are favoring Runway 17 with a right turn okay we're going to select that Runway 17 item four with a right hand turn okay that sounds [Music] good Columbia Houston through Buckhorn configure AOS okay we're read you loud and clear we got the PTI so far and uh take a look at our Ground tracking now please pleas your uh energy and ground track are good and nav is great Jack that's good news do you thank you this is really a beautiful flying machine Columbia Houston have an update on winds and weather when you're ready go ahead Roger a high scattered Cirrus Deck Over the field surface wind wins 180 at 1 altimeter 303 over okay I got him Houston show you intersecting the hack now passing 26,000 looks good CL Houston wins 1 190 at 14 go Columbia Houston go for auto to interg Glide slope okay we're in Auto Houston Roger Roger 50 ft gear coming gear down 20 10 5 4B no gears 10 5 4 3 [Music] three touch down sts3 was the most successful mission of the flight test program so far 4 months before liftoff the launch date of March 22nd 1982 was established and on that date Colombia was launched Mission planners were able to exchange day four for day three and Colombia showed its capacity to remain on orbit longer than planned okay wheels are St okay Columbia welcome home that was a beautiful job the space shuttle has brought us closer to something else after his return from Space Commander Jack LMA said it best I think we rekindled that patriotic spirit that has been lingering in the background that has wanted to come to the surface and I think that the space shuttle has caused that in a sense to happen and I think the space shuttle is great for that reason the whole transportation system is something that is good about America people are beginning to realize it and be proud of it sts3 has clearly demonstrated the versatility and flexibility of the space transportation system it has brought us one step closer to the beginning of a new era routine operational space [Music] flight