Posted: Wed, Jan 15, 2003, 6:18 PM ET (2318 GMT)
NASA shuttle managers gave their final approval for the launch Thursday of the space shuttle Columbia and announced the exact time of launch. The STS-107 mission is on track to launch Thursday at 10:39 am EST (1539 GMT), the exact launch time revealed only Wednesday as part of security precautions. Because Columbia will not dock with the International Space Station, the mission has a wide launch window: 2.5 hours, limited only by the amount of time NASA is willing to allow the crew to remain in the orbiter while on the pad. Shuttle managers also gave their final go-ahead for launch after removing all doubts that the orbiter has cracked bearings like the one found in a liquid oxygen line in Discovery recently. Managers also eliminated any concerns about contamination found in a spacesuit at a manufacturer test facility: no spacewalks are planned for the mission and the contamination was found to be limited to the one suit. No other technical concerns have been noted and weather is forecast to be excellent for the launch. STS-107 is a 16-day free-flying science mission, potentially the last of its kind before all such science is performed on ISS. The seven-person crew includes Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

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