Launch from Cape Canaveral (
KSC); landing at White
Sands, Runway 17, Northrup Strip.
Third test flight of the Space
Shuttle. For the first time, the External Tank was not varnished in white
colour, as in the first two flights.
Payloads included the
OSS-1 pallet in
the cargo bay of the shuttle;
OSS-1 obtained
data on near-Earth environment; several other experiments (Monodisperse Latex
Reactor, Heflex Bioengineering Test and more). The landing site changed to
White Sands since the planned landing site at Edwards
AFB flooded due to
excessive rain. High winds at White Sands resulted in one-day extension of the
mission. STS-3 was the only shuttle mission to land at White Sands.