CANCEL
STS-2 (Columbia)
Launch Date
November 12, 1981
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
2
STS-2 (Columbia)
Launch Date
November 12, 1981
Craft
Space Shuttle
Status
Past
Crew
2
Overview
The second flight of the Space Shuttle marked the first time a human spacecraft that flew in space was reused on another crew mission. An electricity-producing fuel cell quit working shortly after launch, and the eight-day mission landed just two days after launch. While the crew were told not to test the Shuttle's robot arm due to the fuel cell failure, they tested it anyway -- accomplishing about 80% of the arm's test objectives.
Crafts
Space Shuttle
The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.
