A failed fuel cell forced the crew to fit key tasks into a shorter mission.
With two fuel cells still operating, the flight could continue, but the original five-day plan was abandoned. Controllers selected and rescheduled work so that essential tests could be completed before landing. NASA later credited the mission with roughly 90 percent of its objectives. [1, 2]
The astronauts exercised Canadarm while OSTA-1 instruments observed Earth. SIR-A added radar measurements of the surface to the mission’s remote-sensing programme; the robotic-arm trials established experience with a tool intended for later payload handling. [2, 3, 4]
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