STS-4

Key takeaways

STS-4 belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect STS-4 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of STS-4 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

STS-4 was the fourth NASA Space Shuttle mission, and also the fourth for Space Shuttle Columbia. Crewed by Ken Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield, the mission launched on June 27, 1982, and landed a week later on July 4, 1982. Due to parachute malfunctions, the SRBs were not recovered. STS-4 was the final test flight for the Space Shuttle; it was thereafter officially declared to be operational. Columbia carried numerous scientific payloads during the mission, as well as military missile detection systems.

Crew

STS-4, being the last test flight of the Space Shuttle, was also the last to carry a crew of two astronauts. Commander Ken Mattingly had previously flown as Command Module Pilot on Apollo 16, and was also the original Command Module Pilot for Apollo 13 before being replaced by his backup, Jack Swigert, after being exposed to German measles. Pilot Henry Hartsfield was a rookie astronaut who had transferred to NASA in 1969 after the cancellation of the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. He had previously served as a capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on Apollo 16, all three Skylab missions, and STS-1. Both men had graduated from Auburn University, the only time an entire Space Shuttle flight crew were graduates of the same university.

Backup crew From STS-4 onwards, NASA halted the appointment and training of complete backup flight crews. Instead, individual flight crew members were assigned backups who could take their place within the prime crew. The decision on whether to appoint a reserve crew member was 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.

Support crew Roy D. Bridges Jr. (entry CAPCOM) Michael L. Coats S. David Griggs (ascent CAPCOM) George D. Nelson Brewster H. Shaw

Crew seat assignments

Mission summary STS-4 launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on June 27, 1982, at 15:00:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. local time), with Ken Mattingly as commander and Henry Hartsfield as pilot. This mission marked the first time the Space Shuttle launched precisely at its scheduled launch time. It was also the last research and development flight in the program, after which NASA considered the shuttle operational. After this flight, Columbia's ejection seats were deactivated, and shuttle crews did not wear pressure suits again until STS-26 in 1988. STS-4's cargo consisted of the first Getaway Special (GAS) payloads, including nine scientific experiments provided by students from Utah State University, and a classified U.S. Air Force payload. A secret mission control center in Sunnyvale, California participated in monitoring the flight. Mattingly, an active-duty naval officer, later described the classified payload – two sensors for detecting missile launches – as a "rinky-dink collection of minor stuff they wanted to fly". The payload failed to operate. The National Reconnaissance Office intended to fly DAMON, a secret payload intended to replace KH-9 HEXAGON, but it was canceled in December 1980. In the shuttle's mid-deck, a Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System and the Mono-disperse Latex Reactor flew 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 Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm) 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. Columbia landed on July 4, 1982, at 16:09:31 UTC, on the 15,000 ft (4.6 km) concrete runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, the first orbital Shuttle landing on a concrete runway. This time the lead escorting T-38 "Chase 1" was piloted by Guy Gardner with crewmate Jerry L. Ross. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan greeted the crew upon arrival. Following the landing, President Reagan gave a speech to the crowd gathered at Edwards, during which he declared the Space Shuttle operational. He was followed by remarks from Mattingly and Hartsfield and a flyover of the new shuttle Challenger atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), headed for KSC. The flight lasted 7 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 31 seconds, and covered a total distance of 4,700,000 km (2,900,000 mi) in 112 complete orbits. The mission achieved all objectives except for the Air Force payload, but the SRBs were lost when their main parachutes failed, causing the empty casings to impact the ocean at high velocity and sink. This and STS-51-L were the only missions where the SRBs were not recovered. Columbia returned to KSC on July 15, 1982.

Gallery

Mission insignia The path of the red, white, and blue streak on the mission patch forms the numeral "4", indicating the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence.

Wake-up calls NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Project Gemini, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with STS-4

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what STS-4 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to STS-4 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about STS-4 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of STS-4

In research: STS-4 appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses STS-4 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: STS-4 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1982 in California, 1982 in Florida, Edwards Air Force Base, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for STS-4 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study STS-4 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what STS-4 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain STS-4 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is STS-4 in simple terms?

STS-4 was the fourth NASA Space Shuttle mission, and also the fourth for Space Shuttle Columbia. Crewed by Ken Mattingly and Henry Hartsfield, the mission launched on June 27, 1982, and landed a week later on July 4, 1982.

Why does STS-4 matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study STS-4?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on STS-4.