re: STS 3's frst!
STS 3 was not only the only Shuttle flight to land at White Sands....but it also was the very first american spaceflight with an extended duration (because of weather on the ground)!
I remember being annoyed because I had hoped to see the landing while on short leave from the army (in Germany) at home...Instead, it landed while I was in the train on the way back to the base. I don't remember ever reading, before STS 3, that a shuttle flight could be extended.
Flights had been shortened before: STS 2, Apollo 13, Gemini 8 and perhaps Aurora 7...but never extended!