COLUMBIA LIFTS OFF; MISSION COULD BE PROGRAM'S LONGEST.Byline: The New York Times The space shuttle Columbia blazed a smoky trail through muggy mug·gy adj. mug·gi·er, mug·gi·est Warm and extremely humid. [Probably from Middle English mugen, to drizzle; akin to Old Norse mugga, a drizzle. skies Thursday to begin what could become the longest mission in the shuttle program's history. The Columbia, making its 20th voyage into space, carried a crew of seven from three countries into an orbit 173 miles above Earth on a mission that could stretch to a record of almost 17 days if astronauts are frugal with their supplies. Putting aside initial concerns about approaching clouds and rain, and having few equipment problems to deal with, technicians got the 78th mission of the shuttle program off on time at 10:49 a.m. ``We are extremely proud to have those guys up there going to work,'' Loren Shriver, a Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics launching official, said after liftoff. Shriver shrive v. shrove or shrived, shriv·en or shrived, shriv·ing, shrives v.tr. 1. To hear the confession of and give absolution to (a penitent). 2. said the only problem early in the flight was a malfunction in one of five controlling computers, which experts said was not expected to affect the operation or length of the mission. The mission is scheduled to last almost 16 days. If astronauts conserve enough electrical power from the shuttle's fuel cells, Mission Control could extend it by a day. If the mission is extended a full day, to 16 days, 22 hours, the Columbia, the oldest of NASA's four shuttles, will eclipse a flight-duration record set by the Endeavour, the newest shuttle, which stayed in orbit for 16 days, 15 hours in March 1995. On board the Columbia are 22 experiments, worth $138 million, to study the effects of the microgravity mi·cro·grav·i·ty n. 1. An environment in which there is very little net gravitational force, as of a free-falling object, an orbit, or interstellar space. 2. of space on people, plants and animals Plants and Animals are a Canadian indie-rock band from Montreal, comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer and Nic Basque, and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woodley.[1] They are signed to Secret City Records. , and materials manufacturing. For the first time, a video camera placed in the crew cabin not only allowed the public to see astronauts being strapped in before launching, but also showed the jolt of liftoff and the rapid shift to weightlessness weightlessness, the absence of any observable effects of gravitation. This condition is experienced by an observer when he and his immediate surroundings are allowed to move freely in the local gravitational field. - with objects and crew members abruptly being pushed forward - when the shuttle's engines cut off in space. Officials said they also expected to get cabin-eye views of the shuttle's fiery return to the Kennedy center. The crew, which includes two medical doctors and a veterinarian, is to do most of its work in a 40-foot-long, European-built pressurized pres·sur·ize tr.v. pres·sur·ized, pres·sur·iz·ing, pres·sur·iz·es 1. To maintain normal air pressure in (an enclosure, as an aircraft or submarine). 2. laboratory in the cargo bay. Several crew members will be poked and prodded during and after the mission in 13 experiments looking at how the human body adapts to weightlessness. |
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