Houston, July 26
NASA’s space shuttle Discovery today embarked on a 12-day mission with seven astronauts onboard, marking a return to flight nearly two-and-a-half years after the Columbia disaster in which India-born Kalpana Chawla and six others were killed.
The shuttle lifted off perfectly from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8.09 pm (IST) into a clear blue sky amid cheers from relatives of the astronauts and NASA officials.
The mission, headed by Commander Eileen Collins, will test a battery of tools and techniques developed by NASA engineers after the loss of Columbia to inspect the spacecraft’s heat-resistent exterior tiles for any damage that may occur during lift-off.
Discovery also takes parts and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). It also has a 15-metre-long robotic arm that will inspect the shuttle for damage in orbit.
As the spacecraft got out of earth’s atmosphere after an 8.5-minute journey, it cruised at speeds in excess of 25,000 km per hour.
An array of cameras, as part of safety measures implemented after the Columbia disaster, videotaped the launch of the shuttle.
NASA had on July 13 called off the launch of Discovery two-and-a-half-hours ahead of lift-off after detecting a snag in the fuel tank of the spacecraft.
The shuttle has now begun its two-day journey before it docks with the International Space Station (ISS), which sailed 225 miles west of Australia with its two-member crew as Discovery lifted off.
The five-man, two-woman crew comprises Pilot Jim Kelly, Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence and Charles Camarda besides Collins.
Discovery, the first NASA mission after the Columbia disaster, is carrying a photograph of Kalpana Chawla and mementos from her colleagues who perished in the tragedy.
The picture of Kalpana is from her college days in India, where she is sitting in her dorm room surrounded by photographs of aircraft and a space shuttle.
Relatives of the astronauts who perished in the Columbia tragedy have also sent mementos like flags, gold medallions, a Columbia mission pin.
Once docked, Discovery’s astronauts will use the shuttle’s robot arm to hoist a cargo canister called Raffaello from the payload bay to a latching point on the station.
— PTI
