Shuttle Atlantis thunders toward space station

 


Author:     BY PHIL LONG

  CAPE CANAVERAL - Seven astronauts and a truckload of hardware 
are racing toward the International Space Station following the 
successful blastoff Monday of the space shuttle Atlantis.

  The launch was the first of six scheduled for the next seven 
months in a flurry of activity designed to get the space station 
closer to completion.

  Riding three new main engines that belched an orange pillar of 
fire, Atlantis thundered off the seaside launch pad at 4:44 p.m. 
A computer glitch marred the countdown as engineers frantically 
reloaded software, finishing the job with just 11 seconds to 
spare.

  The launch came after a four-day delay caused when a liquid 
hydrogen vent pipe sprung a leak during fueling on Thursday.

  ''You spent a few extra days in Florida,'' NASA launch director 
Mike Leinbach told Atlantis commander Mike Bloomfield moments 
before liftoff. ``But it's time to take a ride.''

  The launch was a milestone in U.S. space flight. Mission 
specialist Jerry L. Ross, a grandfather, became the first 
astronaut to make seven space flights.

  In four space walks during the 11-day mission, astronauts will 
install the ''keystone'' center support unit for the 
International Space Station.

  The 44-foot-long, 27,000-pound ''S-Zero'' structure's first job 
will be to support a new solar energy array nearly an acre in 
size, stretching more than a football field in length.