NASA sends shuttle back into space after long pause
By Irene Klotz and Michael Christie
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA successfully launched space
shuttle Discovery on Tuesday after a 2-1/2 year struggle to rebuild the
shuttle program following the fatal Columbia disaster.
The shuttle, carrying seven crew members, soared into slightly hazy
skies, leaving behind a trail of smoke and flames, while the roar of its
booster rockets rattled windows and shook the ground across Cape
Canaveral in Florida.
"I want to ask you all to take note of what you saw here today," said
NASA's new administrator Michael Griffin, basking in a palpable sense of
relief that swept through the launch management team after Discovery
safely reached orbit.
"The power and the majesty of the launch, of course, but also the
competence and the professionalism, the sheer gall, the pluckiness, the
grittiness of this team that pulled this program out of the depths of
despair two years ago and made it fly."
Discovery's main mission on the 12-day space flight under veteran
astronaut Eileen Collins is to test new safety measures and heat shield
repair techniques introduced since sister ship Columbia disintegrated
over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.
Columbia's wing had been damaged by falling foam insulation on liftoff,
and superheated atmospheric gases tore into the breach when the shuttle
came back to land 16 days later. Seven astronauts died.
NASA has spent more than $1 billion on safety upgrades since then, and
worked to correct what investigators called a "broken safety culture"
that was too dismissive of risk.
"We know that the folks back on the planet Earth are just feeling great
right now and our thanks to everybody for all the super work that's been
done over the past 2 1/2 years to get us flying again," Collins told
mission control in Houston just short of three hours after the
picture-perfect launch.
Discovery's other main mission is to deliver several tons of supplies
and equipment to the International Space Station, whose construction has
been on hold since the remaining three-shuttle fleet was grounded in the
aftermath of Columbia.
ELUSIVE PROBLEM
The shuttle's launch was delayed for two weeks while engineers searched
for the cause of an elusive problem with one of the ship's hydrogen
fuel-level sensors.
The sensor glitch canceled Discovery's first launch attempt on July 13
and briefly overshadowed the fear of falling debris that had preoccupied
NASA engineers for more than two years.
During Tuesday's countdown, however, all the sensors worked perfectly.
Even Florida's normally fickle summer weather cooperated and Discovery
blasted off smoothly, its two solid rocket boosters pouring out 6.5
million pounds (3 million kg) of thrust and enough energy to light
87,000 homes for a day.
Crowds of onlookers, including first lady Laura Bush and President
Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, held their breath during the
critical first two minutes of flight, then cheered when launch
commentators announced that the shuttle had safely separated from the
boosters.
The shuttle arced over the Atlantic Ocean, and settled into its planned
preliminary orbit just under 9 minutes later after reaching a speed of
up to 17,400 mph (28,205 kph).
The launch was scrutinized by 112 cameras, and an array of radars,
sensors and other imaging equipment so that NASA can assess how well the
newly modified external fuel tank worked. It was foam from the tank that
damaged Columbia.
The cameras captured something falling off as the shuttle climbed, but
NASA managers said it would be a while before they could determine
whether it was significant or not. The object could simply have been a
paper cover that is meant to fall off, said Wayne Hale, deputy shuttle
program manager.
The shuttle crew's first task will be to use a new 50-foot (15-meter)
extension to the spaceship's robot arm to survey its nose and the
leading edges of its wings for damage.
Discovery's launch was also monitored by Russian cosmonaut Sergei
Krikalev and U.S. astronaut John Phillips on the International Space
Station.
The shuttle, carrying Collins, pilot Jim Kelly, Japan's Soichi Noguchi
and astronauts Charles Camarda, Steve Robinson, Andy Thomas and Wendy
Lawrence, was scheduled to reach the orbital outpost on Thursday for a
week-long stay.
The shuttle's return to flight after a long hiatus also marks the
beginning of the end for the aging spacecraft.
President Bush has instructed NASA to retire the shuttle fleet in 2010,
after completion of the space station, and to design a new generation of
space craft capable of returning humans to the moon and of taking them
to Mars and beyond.
--
Dishnut-P
================================================================
Operator of RadioFree Dishnuts - Producer of The Dishnut News
heard Saturdays at 10pm EST. on
RFD, W0KIE Satellite Radio Network AMC-7 Transponder 5 / 7.50Mhz
(4DTV W-7 973), WTND-LP 106.3, and many micro LPFM stations.
http://dishnuts.net
RFD Listen Links: http://dishnuts.net/#Listen
Show Archives: (Partly Up) http://dishnuts.net/archive/
Community email addresses:
Post message: mailto:[email protected]
Subscribe: mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/TVRO
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TVRO/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
