Aresearch.119
net.columbia
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!harpo!research!sjb
Sat Oct 31 16:03:52 1981
fact/figures
Here are some facts and figures on STS 2:

	Launch:  0730 EST Wednesday 4 November from pad 39A at
Cape Canaveral, Florida.

	Landing:  1140 EST Monday 9 November at Rogers Dry Lake,
Edwards Air Force Base in the California Mojave Desert.

	Major objective:  Proving that the USA has finally
developed a space-plane that is reusable.  If successful,
it will be the first craft to make more than one trip into
orbit and back.

	Astronauts:  Air Force Colonel Joe Engle, 49, and
Navy Captain Richard Truly, 43.  This will be the first
space flight for each of them.

	Major test:  Testing of the 50 foot mechancal arm
made in Canada (called ``Canadarm'').

	Payload:  5,347 pounds of sensing instruments that will
look at Earth throughout most of the flight, mapping landscape,
measuring pollution, identifying minerals, and searching for
differences in ocean color that may indicate large schools of
fish.