Editing STS-3 (section)

{{Short description|1982 American crewed spaceflight}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name               = STS-3
| names_list         = [[Space Transportation System]]-3
| image              = STS-3 landing.jpg
| image_caption      = STS-3 landing at [[White Sands Space Harbor|Northrop Strip]], [[White Sands, New Mexico]], on March 30, 1982, with two [[T-38 Talon]] chase planes observing.
| mission_type       = [[Flight test]]
| operator           = [[NASA]]
| mission_duration   = {{time interval|March 22, 1982, 16:00:00|March 30, 1982, 16:04:46|show=dhms|sep=,}}
| distance_travelled = {{cvt|5300000|km}}
| orbits_completed   = 130
| spacecraft         = {{OV|102}}
| launch_mass        = {{cvt|106782|kg}}
| landing_mass       = {{cvt|93924|kg}}
| payload_mass       = {{cvt|10301|kg}}
| crew_size          = 2
| crew_members       = {{Unbulleted list|[[Jack R. Lousma]]|[[C. Gordon Fullerton]]}}
| launch_date        = {{Start date text|March 22, 1982, 16:00:00|timezone=yes}}{{nbsp}}[[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] (11:00{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}[[Eastern Standard Time|EST]])
| launch_site        = [[Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy]], [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A|LC-39A]]
| launch_contractor  = [[Rockwell International]]
| landing_date       = {{End date text|March 30, 1982, 16:04:45|timezone=yes}}{{nbsp}}UTC (9:04:45{{nbsp}}am{{nbsp}}[[Mountain Standard Time|MST]])
| landing_site       = [[White Sands Missile Range|White Sands]], [[White Sands Space Harbor|Northrop Strip Runway{{nbsp}}17]] 
| orbit_reference    = [[Geocentric orbit]]
| orbit_regime       = [[Low Earth orbit]]
| orbit_periapsis    = {{cvt|241|km}}
| orbit_apoapsis     = {{cvt|249|km}}
| orbit_inclination  = 38.00°
| orbit_period       = 89.40 minutes
| apsis              = gee
| instruments        = {{ubl|Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI)|Office of Space Science (OSS-l) pallet|Plasma Diagnostics Package (PDP)}}
| insignia           = Sts3-patch.png
| insignia_caption   = STS-3 mission patch
| crew_photo         = STS-3 Crew.jpg
| crew_photo_caption = [[Jack R. Lousma|Lousma]] and [[C. Gordon Fullerton|Fullerton]]
| programme          = [[Space Shuttle program]]
| previous_mission   = [[STS-2]]
| next_mission       = [[STS-4]]
}}

'''STS-3'''  was [[NASA]]'s third [[Space Shuttle]] mission, and was the third mission for the [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']]. It launched on March 22, 1982, and landed eight days later on March 30, 1982. The mission, crewed by [[Jack R. Lousma]] and [[C. Gordon Fullerton]], involved extensive orbital endurance testing of ''Columbia'' itself, as well as numerous scientific experiments. STS-3 was the first shuttle launch with an unpainted [[Space Shuttle external tank|external tank]], and the only mission to land at the [[White Sands Space Harbor]] near [[Alamogordo, New Mexico]]. The orbiter was forced to land at White Sands due to flooding at its originally planned landing site, [[Edwards Air Force Base]].