Space Shuttle Columbia touches down on Runway 33

[KSC-97PC-0602]

  • Photo Number: KSC-97PC-0602

  • Release Date: 08-Apr-1997

  • Keywords: SHUTTLE,sts-83
    • Description: KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Space Shuttle Columbia touches down on Runway 33 at KSCūs Shuttle Landing Facility at 2:33:11 p.m. EDT, April 8, to conclude the Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) mission. At main gear touchdown, the STS-83 mission duration was 3 days, 23 hours, 12 minutes. The planned 16-day mission was cut short by a faulty fuel cell. This is only the third time in Shuttle program history that an orbiter was brought home early due to mechanical problems. This was also the 36th KSC landing since the program began in 1981. Mission Commander James D. Halsell, Jr. flew Columbia to a perfect landing with help from Pilot Susan L. Still. Other crew members are Payload Commander Janice E. Voss; Mission Specialists Michael L. Gernhardt and Donald A. Thomas; and Payload Specialists Roger K. Crouch and Gregory T. Linteris. In spite of the abbreviated flight, the crew was able to perform MSL-1 experiments. The Spacelab-module-based experiments were used to test some of the hardware, facilities and procedures that are planned for use on the International Space Station and to conduct combustion, protein crystal growth and materials processing investigations.

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    Thumbnail GIF 100 79 11949
    Slide GIF 164 156 36863
    Low GIF 305 240 46398
    Medium JPEG 977 768 119497
    High JPEG 2260 1776 371317

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    Photos By: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (taken by Bionetics)
    Scanned By: Bionetics and NASA/KSC Internet Lab (Dumoulin, Downs, Nguyen and Cody)
    Captions: Sherikon Space Systems (Paula Shawa, Susan Walsh and Chuck Weirauch)
    Curator: NASA/KSC Internet Systems Lab (Dumoulin, Downs, Paladino)
    Last Updated: Tuesday August 28 14:36:48 EDT 2001 (J. Dumoulin )

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