Discovery: No landing worries
2005-08-07 21:10
Cape Canaveral, Florida - Discovery's astronauts were upbeat on Sunday as they readied for re-entry into the atmosphere, but remembered Columbia's crew who lost their lives at that critical stage of the mission.
Commander Eileen Collins and pilot James Kelly both said they had no worries about Monday's scheduled landing in Florida and said Discovery was in great shape.
The crew and Nasa managers hailed what they said was the complete success of the first space shuttle flight since the February 1, 2003 Columbia disaster.
Despite the optimism, Discovery will be grounded with the rest of the fleet once it returns to Earth because the flight demonstrated the US space agency had failed to fix the problem that doomed Columbia.
Designed
The mission was largely designed to test changes made to the shuttle since the Columbia disaster, including improvements that were meant to prevent insulation foam from breaking off upon launch.
"We have definitely accomplished our mission objectives," Collins said.
Crew said their thoughts would be with the seven astronauts who lost their lives when Columbia burst into flames just minutes ahead of their planned landing.
But Collins stressed the Discovery crew would concentrate on getting home safely.
"We're going to have thoughts about Columbia, but we'll be very focused on the job at hand," she said.
Nasa managers gave the green light for Monday's planned landing after deciding that a tear on the cockpit's thermal blanket should not compromise the shuttle's safety as it re-enters the atmosphere.
Nasa had said earlier the orbiter was not damaged when foam insulation fell off the shuttle's external fuel tank as the craft blasted into orbit on July 26.
Doomed
The same problem doomed Columbia, as the debris hit the orbiter's left wing, causing a crack that eventually allowed superheated gases to penetrate the structure upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
But Collins said Discovery was "in great shape and performed well".
The critical re-entry into the atmosphere begins a little over one hour before landing. In the final minutes before touchdown, Discovery will fly over central America and Cuba before making a big loop over the Atlantic as it heads to the Kennedy Space Centre.
As Discovery nears the seashore installation, two high-altitude aircraft will photograph it as part of Nasa's efforts to gather as much data as possible on the shuttle.
The crew was set to spend much of Sunday making preparations for the conclusion of what Nasa dubbed the "return to flight" mission.
"I think it will be another milestone," Discovery's ascent and landing director Leroy Cain said of the mission. "I really look at it as moving forward, a new beginning for us," he said.
Discovery is scheduled to touch down at 04:46 (0846 GMT) on Monday.