Countdown starts for flight 13

Press, 5 October 1984, Page 6

Countdown starts for flight 13

NZPA-NYT Cape Canaveral Countdown began yesterday for launching of an eight-day space shuttle mission in which an American woman will walk in space for the first time. She will practise techniques for refuelling satellites. All launch preparations for the shuttle Challenger, scheduled for today at midnight (New Zealand time), and its crew of seven were proceeding smoothly, officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. It will be the sixth flight of the Challenger and the thirteenth for America’s fleet of winged spaceships. The weather forecast is favourable, although officials said that they expect scattered clouds and a slight chance of ground fog. Launching could be delayed for up to two hours to allow any ground fog to evaporate.

The crew of seven, includ-

ing two women, the most astronauts to be launched at one time, spent the day relaxing at the Kennedy Space Centre and flying training jets. The crew is led by Captain Robert L. Crippen, U.S.N., aged 47, making his fourth shuttle flight. The two women are Dr Sally Ride, aged 35, making her second flight, and Dr Kathryn Sullivan, aged 32, who is scheduled to take a space walk on Wednesday. She and Lieu-tenant-Commander David Leestma, aged 35, will enter the open cargo bay for a three-hour test of equipment designed to refuel satellites retrieved from orbit. Also on board will be the first Canadian to fly in space, Dr Marc Garneau, aged 35, Canadian Navy. The shuttle’s pilot will be Commander Jon Mcßride, aged 41. Dr Paul ScullyPower, aged 40, an Austra-lian-born oceanographer with the United States Navy, will conduct the first sea surface observations from space. The flight is the most ambitious manned mission since the Skylab space station a decade ago. Astronauts plan to use a robot arm to launch an Earthmonitoring satellite, to observe Earth through clouds with radar from the cargo bay, photograph Earth with a large cargo bay camera, and perform other experiments assessing Earth thermal energy patterns. “What we’re looking for is seasonal to yearly weather forecasts,” said Dr Shelby Tilford, head of N.A.S.A.’s division of earth science and appliamons, referring to

the SUS4O million Earth radiation budget satellite to be launched. “We hope ultimately to understand key processes that determine long-term changes in the climate.” Clouds and some other Earth features will, be examined by a radar whose unfolded antenna is 11 metres long and two metres wide. On the second shuttle flight in November, 1981, a less-powerful radar discov-

ered ancient river beds in at beneath the desert This eight-day mission will radar-survey about 10 per cent of the Earth’s' surface. Eastern Peru, usually covered with clouds, is expected to be clearly mapped for tlje first time. The highlight of the mission should be the space walk on Wednesday. Dr

Sullivan will step into space with Commander Leestma and make preparations for transfer of hydrazine, a highly volatile rocket fuel, between two tanks in the ship’s open cargo bay. For safety reasons, the astronauts will return to the cabin during fuel transfers performed by remote control.

In future, astronauts will attempt to refuel satellites

in orbits near Earth, such as Landsat Earth-observation series.

The Challenger is expected to land on October 13, at the Kennedy Space Centre. It would be the second time a shuttle has landed at its launch site. The return to Florida saves days in preparation for future flights, which are scheduled to occur once a month.