Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-2) Poster

The STS-2 mission was planned as a five day mission, but was cut nearly three days due to the failure of one of three fuel cells that produce electricity and drinking water. However, 90 percent of the mission objectives were still achieved. The flight marked the first time a manned space vehicle had been reflown with a second crew: Commander Joseph Engle and Pilot Richard Truly. It again carried the Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) package , which contained sensors and measuring devices to record orbiter performance and the stresses that occurred during launch, ascent, orbital flight, descent and landing. Also, onboard were the Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications-1 (OSTA-1) Earth observation experiments mounted on Spacelab pallet in payload bay. These instruments, including the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A (SIR-1), successfully carried out remote sensing of Earth resources, environmental quality, ocean and weather conditions. In addition, the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS), a mechanical robot arm located in the payload bay of the Shuttle, was successfully operated for the first time.