It was the third of four OFT missions of the Space Shuttle, all of which were flown with Columbia, the only available ship at the time. The purpose of the four OFT missions was to "wring out" all spacecraft systems, operational techniques, and ground control teams before declaring the Space Shuttle "operational" for the future wide variety of missions flown by larger crews of up to eight astronauts. STS-3 was flown during March 22-30, 1982, circling the 'Good Earth' every 90 minutes for 130 orbits at an altitude of about 180 miles and a speed of 17,500 miles per hour. STS-3 would become the only Space Shuttle to land at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
As the Commander, I was flying my second spaceflight. Gordon Fullerton, a US Air Force Test Pilot flying his first space mission, was in the copilot seat. "Gordo" had flown on three of the five previous Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) launched from the back of the Boeing-747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) in 1977. Despite the many years and experiences in aviation and spaceflight we both brought to the mission, we trained exclusively for STS-3 for about 2.5 years, often in integrated simulations with the Mission Control team, preparing with them for all manner of inflight malfunctions and emergencies we might encounter during flight.
Resembling the size, weight, and configuration of a commercial airliner, Space Shuttle reentry through the atmosphere posed some new and very complex problems of guidance, control, and heat dissipation. Moreover, after many design iterations it was concluded the shuttles must return and land unpowered, that is, as very heavy gliders! Due to these little-known experimental characteristics, the four OFT missions were scheduled to land on dry lakebed runways, primarily at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California. These runways were 3-5 miles long, made smooth by graders, and baked hard by the sun.
The first Columbia mission, STS-1, was also the first time NASA flew a manned spaceflight without first flying an unmanned precursor mission. STS-1 was a successful two-day flight. The second mission, STS-2, was planned for six days in orbit but returned early after about two days due to a fuel cell failure. This aroused NASA's critics, so the space agency was "under the gun" for STS-3, and so were Gordo and I by default. To complicate matters, we had settled for a very ambitious, but doable, STS-3 Flight Plan of seven days duration. Among other lesser flight objectives, we measured the thermal stresses on the vehicle under maximum solar heating and performed 15 scientific experiments. On four of the days, we also evaluated automatic and manual operation of the remotely-controlled Canada Arm, for the first-time with a payload attached to it. The payload served a dual purpose in that it housed several sensors for measuring the environment around the Columbia to determine if the shuttle would be a good platform for future scientific investigations.
About ten days before STS-3's planned liftoff, while in quarantine at Johnson Space Center near Houston, we were notified it was raining in California. The lakebed runways were wet, muddy, and would remain unusable for the foreseeable future. The only other acceptable lakebed runway, named Northrup Strip, was located in the northwest region of the White Sands Missile Range about 40 miles north of El Paso, Texas, where we frequently practiced simulated approaches in training aircraft. My decision to land at White Sands was accepted. In a timely logistics operation of huge magnitude, equipment to support the STS-3 landing was transported from EAFB to White Sands and was fully emplaced in time to receive and service Columbia. On the scheduled landing day, however, a severe windstorm at White Sands was blowing clouds of surface dust across the lakebed, making it impossible to see the runway. Already seated in the Colombia and ready to decelerate for reentry, we were notified the landing was waved-off for the day. We had been granted an extra day in our world's favorite vacation spot! By the time we were able to reverse the reentry process and unstrap from our seats, we were over White Sands to see New Mexico blowing into Texas. Our families and others were enduring a desert survival situation while we had the "best seats in the house"!
We were also told it was mandatory to land the following day, extending the mission to eight days. Weather permitting; we would land at White Sands. If not, we would become the first Space Shuttle to land on Kennedy Space Center's new, 15,000-foot concrete runway with alligators at both ends and along the sides! On the eighth mission day, the surface winds had abated at White Sands, and we were cleared for the landing. We began our descent over Australia, passed near Hawaii, and flew just north of Phoenix to make a right-hand diving approach and landing on the south runway at White Sands. As we rolled to a stop on the lakebed a wave of gratitude to God and of professional reward like no other swept over my being that would last a lifetime, that is, we were still alive, had accomplished all of our planned objectives, and had presented our whole team with the successful outcome for which so many had worked so hard for so long. It doesn't get any better than that!
After the STS-3 mission, I received two personal awards: --- Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal (#2). Other personal honors received during my NASA tenure included: --- Honorary degrees; Doctor of Astronautical Science from University of Michigan, Doctor of Science from Hope College, and Doctor of Science in Business Administration from Cleary College. I also received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award (1983) and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame, Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame, and Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Over 30 years, the Space Shuttles flew 135 flights. Despite two accidents, in which 14 astronauts perished, the Space Shuttle became the most versatile manned rocket ever flown as it flew many scientific missions, lofted ISS components into space for assembly, carried crews and supplies to both the ISS and Russian Mir Space Station, serviced the Hubble Space Telescope, launched satellites, flew several classified military flights, and many others.
After the STS-3 mission, I spent another year and a half at NASA Johnson Space Center. There were Mission Reports to write and debriefings with various engineering, Mission Control, and astronaut groups. Visits to the NASA Centers involved in the mission as well as numerous other public relations events were made. A very interesting three-week visit to Mainland China was arranged by NASA Headquarters in November, 1982. Gratia and I were also sent on 'good will' missions to numerous European, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern nations. During this time, NASA was also in its planning stages for eventual construction of the ISS and for flight crew transportation using the Space Shuttle. I was involved in space station development while simultaneously maintaining currency in simulators for another Space Shuttle mission which would probably not occur for a couple of years. Again, I became restless, sensing the repetition with what I had already done seemed unfulfilling, and the "lure" was wearing off. It was further evident that continuing with this mindset was no longer worth the risk to neither my family nor myself. I began looking for other employment alternatives, and in November, 1983, I resigned from both the Marine Corps and NASA after 25 years and 17 years, respectively. The other options I had identified were primarily with aerospace companies, but their job descriptions seemed like 'more of the same' astronaut involvement I was leaving but without an airplane to fly! Within a few days of my resignation, however, I was contacted by Republican Party leaders asking me to consider running for US Senator from Michigan, which was my "home of record" as a military officer. Having not considered politics as a career interest, but also not totally satisfied with other options at hand, I reluctantly offered to explore this unexpected possibility. The Michigan Republican leaders arranged for Gratia and I to travel to Washington, D.C. for meetings with several senators and their families to get acquainted with the various aspects of political life.
