This retrospective remembers the third voyage of space shuttle Columbia. The March 1982 mission served as another developmental test flight for the reusable spacecraft, examining performance of its systems while also conducting a limited science agenda. STS-3 is distinguished by making the first landing at Northrup Strip in White Sands, New Mexico.

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Mission overview Delve into the STS-3 mission, hear from its two-man crew and NASA officials in this narrated preview of the flight. (14min 27sec file)  Play video:    Dial-up | Broadband		Process begins A modified 747 carrier aircraft ferries Columbia back to Kennedy Space Center following the shuttle's landing in California to end its previous mission, STS-2, in Nov. 1981. The shuttle is towed to its processing hangar to begin turnaround work ini preparation for STS-3. (2min 36sec file)  PLAY
First orange tank The external fuel tank for Columbia's STS-3 mission arrives at Kennedy Space Center via barge. This was the first tank with its orange foam not painted. The earlier two shuttle flights used tanks painted white. (1min 48sec file)  PLAY		Vehicle assembly The twin solid rocket boosters are stacked atop a mobile launch platform and the external fuel tank is added during pre-flight preparations inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. (1min 52sec file)  PLAY
The payload The Office of Space Science (OSS-1) Pallet consisting of several experimental payloads is readied for flight at Kennedy Space Center. Then, the package is installed into Columbia's payload bay. (2min 20sec file)  PLAY		Leaving the hangar Columbia is towed from its Orbiter Processing Facility hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building for attachment to its fuel tank and boosters. (2min 21sec file)  PLAY
Attaching Columbia After arriving inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, a crane lifts Columbia vertically and maneuvers the orbiter into position for mating with the external tank and booster rockets. (1min 05sec file)  PLAY		Rollout Space shuttle Columbia emerges from the Vehicle Assembly Building in the predawn darkness for the 3.5-mile trip to launch pad 39A. (50sec file)  PLAY
Crew arrival STS-3 commander Jack Lousma and pilot Gordon Fullerton arrive at the Cape in T-38 training jets to begin launch countdown activities. (1min 54sec file)  PLAY		Launch morning The two astronauts enjoy a launch morning breakfast at the Kennedy Space Center crew quarters and then don their pressure suits for flight. (2min 35sec file)  PLAY
To the pad Ready to fly, Lousma and Fullerton depart their quarters and ride the AstroVan to launch pad 39A for boarding Columbia. (1min 12sec file)  PLAY		Launch! Space shuttle Columbia blasts off for the third time in less than a year, launching at 11:00 a.m. EST on March 22, 1982 for another test flight. (3min 16sec file)  PLAY
In space After reaching orbit, the crew opens Columbia's payload bay doors and extend the ship's robotic arm. They discover missing thermal protection tiles on the shuttle's nose and watch something venting from the main engines. (1min 59sec file)  PLAY		Payload work During the mission's week in space, the crew worked with experiments in Columbia's payload bay and inside the cabin. (1min 25sec file)  PLAY
Landing! Columbia returns safely to the Earth, making the first and so far only landing at the White Sands facility in New Mexico. Touchdown occurred at 9:05 a.m. local time March 30 after an eight-day, five-minute flight. (3min 32sec file)  PLAY