Editing STS-4 (section)

== Mission summary ==
STS-4 launched from [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) on June 27, 1982, at 15:00:00{{nbsp}}[[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], with [[Ken Mattingly]] as commander and [[Henry Hartsfield]] as pilot.<ref name=oomops/> This mission marked the first time the Space Shuttle launched precisely at its scheduled launch time. It was also the last research and development flight in the program, after which NASA considered the shuttle operational. After this flight, ''Columbia's'' ejection seats were deactivated, and shuttle crews did not wear pressure suits again until [[STS-26]] in 1988.

STS-4's cargo consisted of the first [[Getaway Special]] (GAS) payloads, including nine scientific experiments provided by students from [[Utah State University]],<ref name="hopesp">{{cite news |date=June 29, 1982 |title=Students hope for a space fix-it |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xjdTAAAAIBAJ&pg=6075%2C7708289 |work=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |pages=A1–A2 |via=Google News}}</ref><ref name="chrftj">{{cite news |date=June 30, 1982 |title=USU team, astronauts, cheer fix-it job |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xzdTAAAAIBAJ&pg=4030%2C7890907 |work=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |page=A1 |via=Google News}}</ref> and a classified [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] payload.<ref name="wilford19841218">{{Cite news |last=Wilford |first=John Noble |date=1984-12-18 |title=MILITARY MISSION OF SPACE SHUTTLE TO BE KEPT SECRET |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/18/us/military-mission-of-space-shuttle-to-be-kept-secret.html |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=The New York Times |pages=A1 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A secret [[Mission Control Center|mission control center]] in [[Sunnyvale, California]] participated in monitoring the flight. Mattingly, an active-duty naval officer, later described the classified payload – two sensors for detecting missile launches – as a "rinky-dink collection of minor stuff they wanted to fly". The payload failed to operate.<ref name="cassutt200908">{{cite news|url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space/secret-space-shuttles-35318554/?c=y%3Fno-ist|title=Secret Space Shuttles|publisher=Air & Space|date=August 2009|access-date=February 17, 2012|author=Cassutt, Michael}}</ref> The [[National Reconnaissance Office]] intended to fly DAMON, a secret payload intended to replace [[KH-9 HEXAGON]], but it was canceled in December 1980.<ref name="day20190701">{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Dwayne Allen |author-link=Dwayne A. Day |date=2019-07-01 |title=Top Secret DAMON: the classified reconnaissance payload planned for the fourth space shuttle mission |url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4882/article/3748/1 |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The Space Review}}</ref>

In the shuttle's mid-deck, a Continuous Flow [[Electrophoresis]] System and the Mono-disperse Latex Reactor flew for the second time. The crew conducted a [[lightning]] survey with hand-held cameras, and performed medical experiments on themselves for two student projects. They also operated the [[Canadarm|Remote Manipulator System]] (Canadarm) with an instrument called the Induced Environment Contamination Monitor mounted on its end, designed to obtain information on gases or particles being released by the orbiter in flight.<ref name=":0"/>

''Columbia'' landed on July 4, 1982, at 16:09:31{{nbsp}}UTC, on the {{cvt|15000|ft|km}} concrete runway 22 at [[Edwards Air Force Base]], the first orbital Shuttle landing on a concrete runway. This time the lead escorting [[Northrop T-38 Talon|T-38]] "Chase 1" was piloted by [[Guy Gardner (astronaut)|Guy Gardner]] with crewmate [[Jerry L. Ross]]. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Nancy Reagan|his wife Nancy Reagan]] greeted the crew upon arrival. Following the landing, President Reagan gave a speech to the crowd gathered at Edwards, during which he declared the Space Shuttle operational.<ref name=owastwrd/> He was followed by remarks from Mattingly and Hartsfield and a flyover of the new shuttle ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'' atop the [[Shuttle Carrier Aircraft]] (SCA), headed for KSC.

The flight lasted 7{{nbsp}}days, 1{{nbsp}}hour, 9{{nbsp}}minutes, and 31{{nbsp}}seconds, and covered a total distance of {{cvt|4700000|km}} in 112 complete orbits. The mission achieved all objectives except for the Air Force payload, but the [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|SRBs]] were lost when their main parachutes failed, causing the empty casings to impact the ocean at high velocity and sink.<ref name=oomops/> This and [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|STS-51-L]] were the only missions where the SRBs were not recovered. ''Columbia'' returned to KSC on July 15, 1982.