Coming up on T-minus 1 minute. T-minus 1 minute and counting. The firing system for the sound suppression water system on the pad is armed. T-minus 45 seconds. We are 14 seconds away from switching command of the countdown from the ground computers to the onboard computers, and the development flight instrumentation recorders are on. T-minus 35 seconds. The GOX vent arm is fully retracted, and we are switching control of the countdown to the onboard computers. T-minus 25 seconds. The SRB hydraulic power units have started. T-minus 20 seconds and counting. T-minus 15. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. We have main engine ignition. 4, 3, 2, 1. And we have solid motor ignition and liftoff. Liftoff of America's Space Shuttle on its fourth mission and we have cleared the tower. Roger roll, Columbia. Houston, now controlling. Mission control confirms roll maneuver started. 20 seconds. Thrust looks good. 26 seconds, roll maneuver completed. 30 seconds, 1 nautical mile in altitude, throttling engines down to 65% in ALS program. 36 seconds. Plot board status looks good, mission control. 42 seconds, Columbia now 3 nautical miles in altitude. 46 seconds, coming up on period of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the vehicle. 52 seconds, Columbia now 4 nautical miles in altitude. 56 seconds, pass through Max-Q. Still looking good, throttling. Give an a go on throttle up. Mark, 1 minute 10 seconds. Columbia, now 7 nautical miles in altitude, 4 nautical miles downrange. 1 minute 20 seconds, Columbia now 9 nautical miles in altitude, 6 nautical miles downrange. 1 minute 30 seconds, Columbia now 12 nautical miles in altitude, 9 nautical miles downrange, velocity now reading 3,900 feet per second. 1 minute 42 seconds, coming up now on negative seats, where altitude is too high for ejection seat use. Columbia, Houston, negative seats. 1 minute 57 seconds, Columbia now 21 nautical miles in altitude to 21 nautical miles downrange. 2 minutes 3 seconds, standing by for solid rocket booster separation. Roger, PC 50. 2 minutes 14 seconds, confirm solid rocket booster separation. 2 minutes 20 seconds, onboard guidance is converging as programmed. Columbia is now steering for a precise window in space. After staging, if you'll watch the temps for us, I've got it on. Roger, Columbia, we copy. We're watching. 2 minutes 35 seconds, Columbia now 33 nautical miles in altitude. 2 minutes 33 seconds. Columbia, Houston, your mode boundary calls will be late due to a depressed trajectory. All right, sir. Thank you. 2 minutes 50 seconds. We'll stand by for two-engine TAL capability. Columbia, Houston, you have two-engine TAL capability. Roger, two-engine TAL. 3 minutes 12 seconds, that call up by CAPCOM, Dave Griggs says that Columbia now has landing capability at Dakar airport should one engine go out. 3 minutes 20 seconds, Columbia now 44 nautical miles in altitude, 83 nautical miles downrange. Return status check and mission control by flight director, Tom Holloway. 3 minutes 35 seconds. Maddy Leann Heartsfield given a go to continue. 3 minutes 40 seconds, Columbia now 48 nautical miles in altitude, 102 nautical miles downrange. Velocity now reading 7,800 feet per second. Columbia, Houston, we see your FES good. Standing by for negative return. Stand by for negative return. Mark, negative return. Roger, negative return. 4 minutes 8 seconds with that call up Maddy and Heartsfield committed to space travel, they can no longer turn around and return to the launch site. 4 minutes 15 seconds, Columbia now 53 nautical miles in altitude, 142 nautical miles downrange. Still writing on three good engines. Columbia, now traveling at a velocity of 99,100 feet per second. 4 minutes 30 seconds, the flash evaporator is activated to provide cooling for Columbia. 4 minutes 46 seconds, we'll stand by for the press to MICO call up by CAPCOM Dave Griggs. 4 minutes 55 seconds, Columbia now 57 nautical miles in altitude, 193 nautical miles downrange. Columbia, Houston, you are go at five. Roger, go at five. Stand by for press to MICO. Mark, press to MICO. Roger, press to MICO. 5 minutes 16 seconds, the press to MICO call from CAPCOM Griggs says, should Columbia lose but one engine, press on, keep flying forward. Columbia's engines have enough energy to achieve normal altitude and velocity at cutoff. Columbia now 58 nautical miles in altitude, 243 nautical miles downrange, velocity now reading 12,000 feet per second. Mark, 5 minutes 45 seconds, Columbia now 58 nautical miles in altitude, 262 nautical miles downrange. 5 minutes 58 seconds, we'll stand by for single engine TAL capability. Columbia now 58 nautical miles in altitude. Columbia, Houston, you have single engine TAL capability. Mark, 6 minutes 12 seconds, that report from CAPCOM Griggs indicates if a two-engine failure occurred, Maddy Leann Heartsfield are capable of an emergency landing at the car airport. 6 minutes 25 seconds, Columbia now 58 nautical miles in altitude, 358 nautical miles downrange. Velocity now reading 15,400 feet per second. 6 minutes 40 seconds, trajectory plots and mission control still on target. 6 minutes 48 seconds, Columbia now 57 nautical miles in altitude to 412 nautical miles downrange. Columbia pitching over now, diving to increase velocity, decrease altitude, giving Columbia a more favorable attitude. 7 minutes 5 seconds, Columbia now 50, standing by for single engine press to MICO. Columbia, Houston, you are single engine press to MICO. Roger, single engine press. 7 minutes 18 seconds, that report says that Maddy Leann Heartsfield can achieve normal engine cutoff targets even if two engines go out. 7 minutes 25 seconds, Columbia now 56 nautical miles in altitude, 515 nautical miles downrange. Velocity now reading 19,900 feet per second. 7 minutes 40 seconds, G-force is building for Maddy Leann Heartsfield now, coming up to 3 Gs. Columbia now 56 nautical miles in altitude, 570 nautical miles downrange. 7 minutes 55 seconds, Columbia's three main engines, slowly being throttled back now, should be throttle at 65% at 6 seconds before main engine cutoff. Flight Dynamics reports velocity of 23,000 feet per second. Mark, 8 minutes 10 seconds, Columbia now 57 nautical miles in altitude, 666 nautical miles downrange. 8 minutes 20 seconds, status looks good, mission control. 8 minutes 29 seconds, standing by now for main engine cutoff. 8 minutes 40 seconds, confirm shutdown. Columbia returned to space for the fourth time, not yet returned to orbit. Standing by now for external tank separation. Confirm external tank separation. Columbia now moving below and beyond the external tank. Gono go status check in mission control by Flight Director, Tom Holloway, for the first Ohm's burning, shutting down the auxiliary power units. Columbia, Houston, your go for a nominal Ohm's one, APU shutdown on time. Oh, thank you, David. 9 minutes 30 seconds, Columbia given a go for the first Ohm's burn. Columbia will now be maneuvering to Ohm's one burn attitude. Columbia, Houston, the thermal duct heater messages can be ignored. Okay, thank you for that, I wanted to about that. Using the two 6,000 pound thrust engines. Columbia, Houston, and the APU thermal can be ignored also. Thank you, David. Ohm's one will be posi-grade, moving Columbia forward and higher on her flight path. 10 minutes, mission elapsed time, about a minute and a half away from loss of signal. Columbia, now in proper attitude for the first Ohm's burn. Prop systems engineer reports the ignition on both Ohms engine, looks good. Columbia, Houston, we are 30 seconds to LOS, configure LOS. Talk to you next at Dakar. Okay, configure that. 11 minutes 40 seconds, mission elapsed time, a loss of signal now with Columbia through Bermuda, the next station to acquire will be Dakar, in a little less than 6 minutes. This is shuttle control, Houston. Shuttle Control, Houston, 13 minutes 18 seconds mission elapsed time, Flight Dynamics Officer, Ron Epps, reports the following predicted numbers for the first Ohm's burn. Time of ignition, 10 minutes 39.3 seconds. Delta V, 153.5 feet per second. Burn duration, 1 minute 30.5 seconds, a resulting Apogee of 130 nautical miles, resulting Perigee of 33.3 nautical miles. At 14 minutes mission elapsed time, this is shuttle control, Houston. Hello, Houston, you still with us? Roger, TK, we got you loud and clear. Go ahead. Okay, just give you a little status of where we are, I'm uh, gotten all the times coming in and uh when we checked the two doors together, the uh I just have to say that all the latches are going to hit at exactly the same time and they all look like the absolutely nominal drawing you had in your PDP. We're currently in the process of uh opening the doors, for what we hope will be the last time for a couple of days. Roger, TK, sounds good down here. Okay, Dave, we've got the starboard door is now in its opening cycle and it moves uh with an uneven rate, but it's not jerky. It's uh it's a smooth but a varying rate. Roger, copy and we believe that to be normal. Oh yes sir, I wasn't uh I wasn't inferring any uh concern over it. It's kind of hard to be quiet. Roger, I understand. And uh Dave, we got the doors open and uh we're setting up shop. Roger, Columbia, it sounds good. We're 20 seconds to LOS, Botswana next at uh 7 minutes past the hour. Talk to you there. Okay, sir. Hello, Houston, Columbia. Go ahead, Columbia, we have you. Okay, Dave, uh I didn't remember whether you uh had given us a formal go for orbit or not. We hadn't yet, but we intend to. You have a formal go for orbit. All right, sir. In that case, we'll get out of our formal go for orbit coils and get into something more comfortable. Henry's on the mid deck uh starting in on that activity now. I'll mind the store top side if you got something. Roger, we copy. Shuttle Control, Houston, 3 hours mission elapsed time, loss of signal with Columbia through Hawaii. We will reacquire in approximately 2 minutes over the states. Meanwhile, we have a report from the launch sequence. Initial reports from the solid rocket booster recovery forces indicate that both boosters have probably been lost. Recovery forces operating in the SRB impact zone in the area of 28.40 degrees north latitude and 78 degrees west longitude have located both SRB frustums and drogue parachutes. Recovery forces have not been able to locate either of the twin solid rocket boosters or main parachutes. Initial aircraft sightings and indicated that one of the boosters had been located resting low on the water, but a report was later received that it apparently sank. Another sighting indicated that the other booster was floating erect in the water, but later reports implied that it too had sunk, or may have been mistaken for a frustum. Aircraft and recovery ships, UTC Freedom and UTC Liberty, are continuing their search in the drop area. We tried to activate the getaway special and uh one of the we got around to trying that. I don't seem to be able to make it work. I tried both controllers. I'll come up with a clear and I'll get a A-Alpha. And then I'll put in the relay and I'll put in 02 as I have it now. And the the length of time it takes to describe it, I get an Alpha-02-. And that's all that I can make it do. And I've tried other relay numbers. And I get the same indication. And then of course, it the uh display goes away after 10 seconds or so. I've tried both controllers and both cables, and I had no joy in getting any other response. Okay, TK. We copy that and we'll be looking into it. You guys believe we can look straight down and see the SLF and the launchpad? Sure. And you can eyeball the VAB from here? I wonder if they can see you? You can see Patrick? It is a beautiful day at the cape. Okay, Mike, select? That's affirmative, digging. Okay, uh finally found me a place where I can use the tail to shield the sun, looking at this radiator performance, uh not radiator, but the payload bay liner. And I think I can uh just say if verbally that uh the only thing I see is the uh all of the the things that look like the that craft's floor blankets. Uh the ones in the bottom, all look like they have had a little air trapped under them. I bet that's take a little set. I bet if you want to push on them, they they go right back down, but it looks like all of them on the bottom, and I'll get a picture on the setting goal is more appropriate than it is right now. Stuff on the back of uh bulkhead and the sides, uh uh that all looks perfectly clean. And just as on the side, I was looking at that while I had my binoculars out and I was looking at things on the tail in. I went around and looked, and uh from where I am, it doesn't look like we got even one thing on the old spats, not even a little scratch. They're just as clean as when they were put on. Roger, we copy that TK and it's good news. Uh Houston, Columbia. Good evening, Columbia. Houston's with you. We completed our ICOM drop, so I think we've completed all our chores and unless you have something else for us, uh we're going to go and reconfigure our comm system for a sleep configuration. Houston, did you complete your comments prior to IOS at Hawaii? Uh, let's see. I was through with them at uh 109 about 15, I guess. Okay, that sounds good and we've got no traffic for you down here. Sounds like it'd be a good idea for you to get some sleep. Tell you, Robert, it's hard to get up. Muster the interest in going to bed. So I've heard, maybe someday I'll find out. I will save some for you. All right, sir. Uh sorry to say hello and then goodnight. I'm going to bed, but I guess that's what we better do. We'll talk to you later then. Uh just uh sleep soundly tonight because your Ascent team is awake. All right. The Ascent team was sure awake and on the ball the other day. Well, you must have done a good preflight on the space shuttle. I'll say. That was one heck of a ride you guys are riding on it all the way. It was clearly not what he said when he got on orbit. Now we'll talk about that when you get back down. Houston, Columbia. Go ahead. It sounds to me like we owe somebody down there a great big cheer. Here a little fix for the first try on fixing up the gas and we got relay 02 and 00 shifted from latent to hot. Well, that's really great news. You're going to make a lot of folks happy down here. Thank you. That was a very clean scheme. Roger. This is Shuttle Control. Yargardy has lost the signal. Aurora Valley will pick up uh Columbia in about 20 seconds. We'll stand by for that. Columbia's commander Ken Mattingly reporting uh during this Yargardy pass that he has uh been successful in the getaway special repair and that canister experiment canister is now activated. Okay, we have good picture now. Here comes the doors to close. And that's the number one rotor you're seeing now. I'm going to stop it just short of closure. Okay. Everything is nice and smooth. I want to see the charger camera again. Okay. Okay, that's B, and you can see the hooks going around the rotor. Yeah, looks good. Okay, I stopped it and I got it in close. I have all normal indications for the doors. Now, you want me to go ahead with the two latches? That correct version? Okay, TK, we're ready. Go ahead. Stand by. Mark. Closed. Let's go around number one real clean. I saw you that. Yeah, that looks good. Looks like it's walking down perfectly normal. Okay, they closed normally. Okay, we copy that. TK, everything looks good to us, you can continue with the normal procedures. Okay, thank you, sir. Columbia, Houston, through Myla. Today is the opening day of the NASA exhibit at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. We're patched through live to the PA system throughout the fairgrounds at this time for the opening day ceremony, and the people there are standing by for a few words from the crew of the Columbia. Over. All right. Thank you, Houston. And good morning to the people at the World's Fair. We're talking to you from the spacecraft Columbia, which is currently passing just south of the United States. When the call came in, we were viewing the Gulf Coast. We just passed Houston, little to our north. We were looking out and picking up the signs of places like the Mississippi emptying into the gulf and looking ahead to the state of Florida. The view is spectacular, to say the very least. The things that people talk about from space often concern themselves with the view, but there's probably a great deal more that's worth saying about it than just the immediate impression. And my pilot Hank Hartsfield has a couple of those words he'd like to mention to you. All you folks down there, this is our fifth day in orbit and we're on our 65th orbit of the Earth. Our spacecraft is in good shape and we've had a challenging mission so far. We've been really busy but seem to hang in there. As you probably know, this is the last of the designated test flights on the Space Shuttle system. We'll be landing on the 4th of July, and at that time we anticipate declining the space shuttle transportation system operational. It's kind of fitting that we land on the July the 4th and celebrate the ushering in of a new era. Just as our forefathers ushered in an era of democracy for the whole world over 200 years ago on the same date. The operational era of the shuttle, I think is going to mean a lot to all of us. We're going to exploit space. We're going to put it to work for ourselves and uh make it pay off like it never has before. There's a whole new frontier out there. What the NASA exhibit there that is open today, I think, hopefully will uh show you some of the things that we have done in space and maybe some of the things we hope to do in the the future. I think it's time to renew our thoughts of where we've been and and remind ourselves of the things that we utilize from day to day that are direct outcomes of the space program, and and then be thrilled when we think about uh what the future may hold for us. I think there's uh the things we can't even begin to imagine that are going to happen for us. Again, greetings from the Space Shuttle Columbia, and you folks have a good time. Columbia, we're standing by through Botswana for seven and a half. Okay, loud and clear. You're the same. George, this is uh this is a geologist delight up here. I never had a chance to look at the patterns in in Africa before and you can see the the rifts, and the fault zones, and you can see all of the the various volcanic sequences and and tracer, and it's really complex and fascinating. It's uh very which you see out in the a part of the Western US, but on a much grander scale. Roger TK, wish we could be there. And as we tick along here today George, we are we're making uh rather notable progress on cleaning up our shopping lists, and getting the photos and uh try to maybe I can give you a summary of that on our evening wrap up, where we stand. From an organized day like we did today, where we know what's coming, and we can plan around it and see it, a minute we've been able to take real good advantage of our opportunities. You guys have been super about helping us stay on the track so we can divert our attention to other things. Roger, thank you, sounds good. Columbia, Houston. We haven't given you much on the nozzle yet this flight. There is a chance of some thunderstorms over South America immediately following our next stateside pass, over Venezuela, Columbia, and Brazil. If you have time, you might take a look at those. Okay, uh we got a we got some spectacular stuff down around uh Rio and Buenos Aires the other evening, what was that flight day two. It was really dramatic, and I think we got a I think we got two mags of of that stuff. The uh was dark adapted to the cockpit here, and been sitting here since sunset uh trying to see what we can see when dark adapted, which is something we haven't had a chance to do much of, and Henry noticed an obvious uh horizon is not the horizon at all, but it's the horizon of the atmosphere. And it he noticed you could see stars set through this apparent horizon and track it all the way down until it was occulted by the actual Earth limb, which is nothing amazing to space-type and astronomers when using satellites and all. But then I turned the uh payload bay TV on it. And uh Hank and I were able to pick out, he's looking at it visually and I'm looking at the TV, and I was able to make a tape that records all of that, and uh it's really impressive. Roger TK, we copy, sounds like fun. Columbia, Houston, you are go for the TV. Okay, should be coming down to you now. This was taken this morning and I was doing my exercise bit. This is using the treadmill that we have on board. The harness that I have around my waist carries most of the load. The shoulder straps carry small part of it. The bungees that fold down on that harness apply a load of about 160 pounds to my lower legs, which is about my approximate weight. So I'm really getting about a 1 G load on my legs. The idea of this device is to be able to keep up the muscle tone in the legs and keep the cardiovascular function in good shape such that during entry and also when we return back to the 1G and earth that the blood will not tend to pull so badly in the lower portion of the body. Columbia, Hank, we copy and we're getting good video. Roger, Houston. We're getting real good video. Okay, and there's also a device that I've got a clip on my ear which I can monitor my heart rate. The little device also keeps up with how many miles if I get that far I run or jog or walk, whatever you want to call it on this thing. It has capability to keep time for me, how long I was on it. This morning I calculated that I walked about 6,000 miles. So, it's a pretty good device. Roger, that. Hey, can, I got a good run on this this afternoon. We also caught some 16 millimeter event which we'll be able to show you at to we return to Houston. Uh, Bill can be part of this thing. That's uh really a great device, I think. Roger, thanks, Hank, and we'll forward that on to Bill. Columbia, are you still there? That's affirmative, TK. Hey, I don't know how long you have to fly in this thing to quit being amazed by it and and impressed with what it does. It sure is a lot longer than a week. It's really remarkable. It's the way it operates and and and the characteristics it has. A lot of little things that you never thought of and it's just really been a fascinating couple of days. You're going to really love it. All right, we copy that, TK. It's a remarkable flying machine. Versie, you there? Yes, sir. We have a picture we'll bring back and but I'm not sure who to dedicate it to. But if it comes out, it's a picture of Hank with today's update. floating from the mid deck. And uh it makes a rather impressive roll of paper. Yes, sir, we we figured that that would get us within field goal range. All right, that sounds like the the winner. Um, I'm just teasing you. Well, we figured we had 100 yards of paper and we're on about the 30 yard line going in. Thought you were going to amend to our summary at the end of the day that we had enough consumables for the remainder of the flight plus extension. except we would have to terminate early because we've run out of teleprinter paper. That is a concern. And Columbia, Houston, we'll see you over Mila at 51. Okay. Columbia, Houston, 30 seconds LOS, Botswana's next at 4-9. Okay, we're with you. Got one suited and one halfway. Great, it looks like you're running uh right on the line then. Yeah, a little slow on the suiting, but we'll get caught up here. Columbia, Houston, with you at Botswana for about 30 seconds. Yarga D is uh next at 0-5. Columbia, Houston, through Yarga D for 8 and a half minutes. Hello there. And we hear you 5x5, TK. Okay, just to make everybody feel good, we got the port door closed, port and half locked. I'm just waiting to bring the starboard in on time. Well, that's good news. We're not surprised, but we're happy it worked out nominally. I knew you wouldn't be surprised. We weren't either. We got two suited guys floating around, and we're just sitting here waiting for the times to move on to the next step. Great. Ah, Houston, Columbia. Go ahead. Columbia, Houston, go ahead. Columbia, Houston, how do you read? Reading you loud and clear now, alright. I uh just closed the starboard door and it went nominal. I closed Well, let me try one more time here on this. TK, we're 55 seconds LOS. Okay, and we're in good shape. Roger, we'll see you at Hawaii at 3-1. This is Shuttle Control, here in the Mission Control Center. Flight Director Harold Drawn is polling his flight controllers for a go/no-go decision on the the orbit burn. Columbia, Houston, we'd like to see the vent doors closed before we give you a go for the burn. Hey, we're just waiting for your call. Here it comes. You've got it. Columbia, Houston, vent doors look good. You are go for deorbit burn. Roger. Columbia, Houston, Botswana at 57, configure LOS. Okay, sir. This is Shuttle Control. Ascension has uh lost of signal. Botswana is next in uh 2 minutes, 40 seconds. We'll stand by. This is Shuttle Control at 6 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes, mission elapsed time. Botswana should acquire Columbia momentarily. Columbia, Houston, for 7 minutes. All right. Columbia, Houston, have a good burn. We'll see you at Guam at 3-0. All right, sir. We're starting number two. Roger. That's looking good. This is Shuttle Control, we have a C-band radar contact at 183,000 feet. Mach 13. Chase, Houston, standby for mark at 12. Chase, Roger. Chase, Houston, mark 12. Chase, copy. That was a mark 12 call to Chase. That call helps him. Fido says Columbia is uh 10 miles high, slightly south of ground track. Control looks solid. Columbia, Houston, configure AOS. We got it. Inez Peak The camera from Santa Inez Peak has a visual on Columbia now. Altitude 164,000 feet. Mach 10. Range to go is 353 miles. Columbia, Houston, you're 20 miles high on energy, slightly south of ground track. Nav is good. Okay. Is it safe to go for the popu? That's affirmative, TK. You are go. Understand, go. That was a go for the push over pull up maneuver. The crew conducting a series of aerodynamic maneuvers. 150,000 feet now. Mach 8. 279. Range is 263 miles. Columbia, Houston, take tech in. Okay, sir, put it in. Columbia now utilizing the tactical air navigation system. 138,000 feet, Mach 7.3, 230 miles to go. Columbia 10 miles high on energy and converging now. Columbia, Houston, 10 high on energy, converging, check body flap. Right, sir. 126,000 feet, Mach 6.3, range to go 185. Columbia, Houston, disregard the vapout. Okay, understand. Disregard lighting, come down. That's fine. Columbia is over the channel islands now. Uh be advised your transmission's very garbled. Approaching the coast at 112,000 feet, Mach 4.7. Energy has converged now. 106,000 feet, Mach 4, range to go 110 miles. Columbia systems and control looking good. Columbia, Houston, positive seats, energy is converged. Okay, understand positive seats energy good. Your radio is almost unusable. Columbia's at 93,000 feet now at an altitude where the ejection seats could be used if necessary. Mach 3, 75 miles to go. Columbia, Houston, take air data. 85,000 feet, Mach 2.6, range 62 miles. Columbia, Houston, we'd like a pass to BFS transfer. Roger. Columbia's crew still conducting the maneuvers to aid uh aerodynamic data. 72,000 feet, Mach 1.8, 44 miles to go. The Dryden long range camera has acquired Columbia. At 69,000 feet, Mach 1.6, 39 miles to go. Columbia, now about 5 minutes from touchdown at 61,000 feet, Mach 1.3. Roger. Columbia, Houston, cameras. Columbia and Mach 1.1 now at at 51,000 feet, range 27 miles. Mach .9, at 44,000 feet, range 23 miles. Columbia, 42,000 feet, approaching the hack. Roger. Columbia, touching the heading alignment circle now. We'll shortly be starting a left turn. Looks got it. into the runway. 33,000 feet, air speed uh 258 knots. Position coming up board from the right. That's all. 28,000 feet. Columbia, Houston, surface winds 240 at 12. Houston, could you find another fast fishing path? 20,000 feet at 286 knots. 18,000 feet now. TK, surface winds 240 at 12. Thank you. Columbia, turning into a heading lined up with the runway now. 14,000 feet. Landing speed 264. Roger. Columbia, on final, and looking very good. 12,000 feet. 9600 feet, 282 knots. Into Autoland guidance now. Columbia will stay in Autoland guidance until 2500 feet. Ken Mattingly will take over at 2500 feet for the landing. 280 knots at 4200 feet. 3,000. Gear coming. Gear down. Gears down and locked. Outstanding. Shuttle Control here, the unofficial landing time: 7 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes, 40 seconds. To repeat, the unofficial landing time: 7 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes, 40 seconds. Columbia, Houston, if you get a cabin or PPO2 message, just disregard. Okay, we got one couple of those. Columbia, Houston, welcome back to Earth. That was beautiful. That was quite a ride. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. TK, Hank, you can see we've gotten well-acquainted already. You've just given the American people a 4th of July present to remember. I think all of us, all of us who just witnessed the magnificent sight of the Columbia touching down in the California desert, feel a real swelling of pride in our chests. In the early days of our Republic, Americans watched Yankee clippers glide across the many oceans of the world, manned by proud and energetic individuals, breaking records for time and distance, showing our flag and opening up new vistas of commerce and communications. Well, today, I think you have helped recreate the anticipation and excitement felt in those home ports as those gallant ships were spotted on the horizon, heading in after a long voyage. Today, we celebrate the 206th anniversary of our independence. Through our history, we've never shrunk before a challenge. The conquest of new frontiers for the betterment of our homes and families is a crucial part of our national character, something which you so ably represent today. The space program, in general, and the shuttle program, in particular, have gone a long way to help our country recapture its spirit of vitality and confidence. The pioneer spirit still flourishes in America. In the future, as in the past, our freedom, independence, and national well-being will be tied to new achievements, new discoveries, and pushing back new frontiers. The fourth landing of the Columbia is the historical equivalent to the driving of the golden spike, which completed the first transcontinental railroad. It marks our entrance into a new era. The test flights are over, the groundwork has been laid, and now we will move forward to capitalize on the tremendous potential offered by the ultimate frontier of space. Beginning with the next flight, the Columbia and her sister ships will be fully operational, ready to provide economical and routine access to space for scientific exploration, commercial ventures, and for tasks related to the national security. Simultaneously, we must look aggressively to the future by demonstrating the potential of the shuttle and establishing a more permanent presence in space. We've we've only peered over the edge of our accomplishment. The space shuttle will open up even more impressive possibilities, permitting us to use the near-weightlessness and near-perfect vacuum of space to produce special alloys, metals, glasses, crystals, and biological materials impossible to manufacture on Earth. Today, we celebrate American independence, confident that the limits of our freedom and prosperity have again been expanded by meeting the challenge of the frontier. We also honor two pathfinders. They reaffirm to all of us that as long as there are frontiers to be explored and conquered, Americans will lead the way. They and the other astronauts have shown the world that Americans still have the know-how and Americans still have the true grit that tackled a savage wilderness. Charles Lindbergh once said that short-term survival may depend on the knowledge of nuclear physicists and the performance of supersonic aircraft, but long-term survival depends alone on the character of man. That, too, is our challenge. Hank and TK, we're proud of you. We need not fear for the future of our nation as long as we've got men like you to serve as our inspiration. Thank you both, and God bless you for what you're doing. And before I introduce you, if you'll all just look, well, I'm sure down in front, maybe you can't see, but way out there on the end of the runway, the space shuttle Challenger, affixed atop a 747, is about to start on the first leg of a journey that will eventually put it into space in November. It's headed for Florida now, and I believe they're ready to take off. Challenger, you are free to take off now. And now it's my pleasure to introduce to you two sons of Auburn, Captain TK Mattingly and Colonel Hank Hartsfield. Thank you. Mr. President, you you mentioned something about people having a desire to maintain a presence in space. Not very many hours ago, I know two guys who really wanted to maintain that presence in space a while longer. That is, uh, you never get tired of it. The most remarkable thing, besides the machine and the team that put it together, is that it's a new discovery every minute and every day. The machine we've built is a first stepping stone. Here comes the second one. We're standing in front of its pathfinder, and there's more to come. Where we're going to go in the future is something that depends on you. And maybe that's our second step. I'd like to thank you for being here today. It's really a privilege for us to be part of this celebration. I don't feel like it isn't our celebration at all. We were just lucky enough to be here. The people that make all this work are the thousands of designers and engineers that made it work. And as the President pointed out, all the technology in the world is just a tool. And the only thing that makes the difference between our technology and the trip that we've just had, and the sights that we've seen, and the things that we've thought, and the ideas that that spurred, all the difference between that and just plain old technology is the people that made it happen. And the country is blessed with having a team that's dedicated to the United States and to the exploration and exploitation of space. And I am just as proud as I can be to be a part of that NASA team. There's one other thing that I'd like to say, and I'll let Hank talk to you. Hank's had to endure me for a long time now, and he probably thinks that this last year has been the longest year of his life. And it certainly had more hours packed into it than most. But throughout it all, this guy has maintained a sense of humor in an industry that's second to none. And this is the finest pilot that ever flew in a spacecraft. Hank. It's kind of tough to follow that. I can only echo the words of the President and TK. I am very proud to be here and be a part of the shuttle program. I think back to 206 years ago when our forefathers ushered in a new era of true democracy for the world. And here today, I think we have ushered in a new era also, a fully operational space transportation system. We've got a real fine vehicle there. That vehicle performed far beyond my expectations. And I think TK and I brought all you folks about the best spacecraft that's ever been built. It will be tough for Challenger and the ones coming down the line to top it. But as Ken said, the people that put all this together are the important part. TK and I are only just a little tip of the pyramid, and we're standing on top of a huge number of people who have dedicated their lives and their efforts to making it all work. It can't be done without you folks. And I'm convinced, as TK is, that American technology is the greatest in the world because we have the best people in the world, people that will do the work. I think that the future is going to hold something for us that at this point we cannot even imagine. In the short time that I was there in space, I thought of some things that could only be done there. And when we start sending people up routinely, as the President pointed out, we just opened the railroad, TK referred to it once as opening up the freeway. Once they're built, we know no bounds to what we can do. And I am very, very proud to be a part of this initial effort. Thank you. Come on out, both of you. I just want to again tell you how proud we are of you. And today, as we celebrate our 206th anniversary of our independence, let us remember, we're a prosperous people and a strong people because we're a free people. God bless you all, and a happy 4th of July.