Shuttle back in orbit after snag

Press, 29 June 1982, Page 8

Shuttle back in orbit after snag

NZPA-ReuterCape Canaveral The space shuttle Columbia was back in orbit around Earth on its fourth and final test mission yesterday after overcoming minor problems in the first few hours of the seven-day flight. The astronauts. Captain Ken Mattingly, who flew on Apollo 16. and Henry Hartsfield. making his space debut. were in good spirits before retiring for the night about two hours late.

••All those things that those other folks have said about this machine are certainly true." Captain Mattingly told mission control in Houston. "It’s a beautiful machine."

Yesterday’s lift-off was marred by the loss of the two rocket boosters which helped carry Columbia up 27 nautical miles before separating and splashing down off Florida. The booster rockets were designed to float in the ocean to be recovered and used again, but sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. The cause of

the sinking is still unknown. A space agency spokesman said the loss of the rocket casings would cost the agency SUS 36 million. After entering orbit, the astronauts activated several experimental payloads in Columbia's 18-metre cargo bay. including a secret Department of Defence package codenamed Dod 82-1. Officials declined to comment about the nature of the cargo. Meanwhile, four Soviet cosmonauts and a Frenchman began their second day of experiments in the Salyut 7 orbital space station yesterday. But there were no reports of communication between the two crews. Soviet officials said the five men in Salyut 7 were in good health.

Mission control, near Moscow. said that the French cosmonaut, LieutenantColonel Jean Loup Chretien, and his four colleagues were doing research on the effects of space travel on the human body.