Space shuttle Columbia’s much-anticipated return to space would have to wait another few days. The countdown for the Nov. 4, 1981 launch of STS-2 proceeded smoothly until the final few minutes when mission managers scrubbed the liftoff after a technical issue halted the count in the final few seconds. Astronauts Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly had arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida two days earlier and climbed into Columbia’s cockpit for the launch attempt. Managers rescheduled the launch for Nov. 12, giving Engle and Truly time to return to Houston for additional simulator training as ground crews at KSC recycled Columbia for its next attempt at returning to space. A launch on that day would provide Truly with an out-of-this-world birthday present.
Left: STS-2 astronauts Joe H. Engle, left, and Richard H. Truly arrive at NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center in Florida for the Nov. 4 launch attempt. Right: Space shuttle
Columbia on Launch Pad 39A.
The 73-hour countdown for STS-2 began on schedule on Oct. 31. With built-in holds to provide ground crews with extra time to catch up on activities if needed, the countdown actually took 102.5 hours until the planned 7:30 a.m. EST Nov. 4 liftoff time. Engle and Truly arrived at KSC on Nov. 2 to prepare for their launch, that included flying practice landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft and reviewing flight plans.
Left: In Crew Quarters in the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, STS-2 astronauts
Richard H. Truly, left, and Joe H. Engle sit down for the traditional prelaunch breakfast.
Right: Truly, left, and Engle suiting up in the O&C Building.
On launch day, ground teams at KSC’s Launch Pad 39A filled the shuttle’s large external tank with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and prepared Columbia for its second trip into space. In the Crew Quarters of KSC’s Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, Engle and Truly ate the traditional prelaunch breakfast, donned their pressure suits, and took the astronaut van to Launch Pad 39A where they climbed aboard Columbia for the final two hours of the countdown.
Left: Outside the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, STS-2 astronauts Joe H. Engle, front, and Richard H. Truly prepare to board the astronaut van for the ride to Launch Pad 39A. Right: After the launch scrub, Truly, left, and Engle return to the O&C Building, accompanied by George W.S. Abbey, Chief of Flight Crew Operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The countdown proceeded smoothly until it reached a planned hold at T-minus nine minutes. An indication of lower than allowable pressure in the external tank’s oxygen tank caused the hold to be extended. Engineers quickly resolved the issue and the countdown resumed, proceeding until T-minus 31 seconds, when the automated ground launch sequencer commanded a hold. Engineers traced the problem to low pressure readings in the oxygen tanks feeding Columbia’s three power-generating fuel cells. They attempted to override the launch sequencer as the pressures were low but still within acceptable levels to allow a safe launch, but were successful for only two of the fuel cells. Meanwhile, engineers also noticed slightly higher than expected oil pressures in the Auxiliary Power Units, used to move Columbia’s aerodynamic surfaces, that, although not a concern for launch, may have caused a problem later in the mission. Faced with these technical issues and deteriorating weather conditions at KSC, managers decided to call off the launch attempt. Engle and Truly, disappointed by the scrub, climbed out of Columbia and returned to Crew Quarters in the O&C Building. To allow engineers enough time to assess the problem and implement the necessary maintenance, mission managers reset the launch for Nov. 12.
Left: Astronauts Joe H. Engle, left, and Richard H. Truly talk to the media following
their arrival back at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston after the Nov. 4 launch scrub.
Right: Back again at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the next launch attempt, Engle,
left, helps Truly opens an oversize birthday card.
Following the launch scrub, Engle and Truly returned to Houston for a few days and completed last-minute simulator runs. Knowing that on Nov. 12 Truly would celebrate his 44th birthday, students in Shirley Dynum’s art class at Carver-Jones Elementary School in Baytown, Texas, prepared a custom-made oversized birthday card. They delivered the card to JSC on Nov. 10, just before Engle and Truly departed to return to KSC for the next launch attempt.
To be continued…