|
Shuttle cleared for Thursday launch
Rare science mission includes first Israeli astronaut
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- NASA resolved a pair of safety concerns Wednesday and cleared space shuttle Columbia for liftoff on a science mission featuring Israel's first astronaut.
The space agency kept the 10:39 a.m. (1539 GMT) Thursday launch time a secret until Wednesday morning, in keeping with post-September 11 security measures. This flight is surrounded by even more security than usual because of the presence of Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli air force.
About 300 Israelis are expected for Thursday's launch, most of them guests of Ramon. Excellent weather is forecast.
Shuttle managers met Wednesday morning and concluded that the space agency's latest crack problem would not endanger Columbia's flight or its crew of seven. Engineers had spent the past month analyzing a crack that popped up in the plumbing of shuttle Discovery.
The crack was unrelated to the ones that grounded the entire space shuttle fleet last year. NASA had feared a crack in a ball joint could send metal chips into a main engine during liftoff, with potentially catastrophic results.
Mission managers also discussed last-minute concerns about the spacewalking suits aboard Columbia, after contamination was found in an old test suit at the Connecticut manufacturer. No spacewalks are planned for Columbia's 16-day research flight, but an emergency could force astronauts outside.
Managers concluded the contamination -- a small amount of cleanser -- was minor and limited to that one suit. Columbia's mission is the first by NASA in three years that has not involved the space station or the Hubble Space Telescope.
A variety of animals will be flying -- rats, spiders, bees, silkworms, ants -- as well as other biological specimens. Also on board will be fire, crystal and vibration experiments, as well as cameras for an Israel Space Agency test to monitor desert dust in the atmosphere.
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. -General George Patton
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
