STS-2

Joe Engle

• Birthday: 08/26/1932
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 06/29/1965
• Last Flight: 08/27/1985

Joe Henry Engle was an American pilot who served in the United States Air Force, test pilot for the North American X-15 progr...

Richard H. Truly

• Birthday: 11/12/1937
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 11/12/1981
• Last Flight: 08/30/1983

Richard Harrison Truly is a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, a former fighter pilot, former astronaut for both...

Mission

STS-2

• Type: Test Flight
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-2 was the second flight of the Space Shuttle program. It flew on Columbia again marking the first time in history that a manned, reusable orbital vehicle returned to orbit for a second time.

Location

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 208 rockets, including 207 orbital launch attempts. While Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 266 rocket launches.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

Rocket

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

Learn more about the Space Shuttle