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Shuttle Blasts Off for Space Station

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October 8, 2002, Section A, Page 24Buy Reprints
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A four-month hiatus in space shuttle flights ended today when the shuttle Atlantis blasted off into a blue Florida sky on a mission to expand the International Space Station.

The launching of the Atlantis, carrying a crew of six and a 28,776-pound girder to lengthen the backbone of the station, ended the grounding of the four-shuttle fleet caused by small cracks in some metal fuel system liners that have been repaired.

The Atlantis began its journey to the space station at 3:46 p.m. after a five-day delay caused when Hurricane Lili threatened Houston last week, forcing NASA to shut down its mission control operations at the Johnson Space Center there. The center guides shuttle missions after launching.

For the first time, a video camera was mounted on the shuttle's external fuel tank, looking back toward the shuttle itself and one of its twin booster rockets. The camera showed the shuttle rising from its launching pad and rolling over on its back as it climbed above the Florida coast.

The NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, said the suspension of shuttle flights for the summer showed NASA's emphasis on safety above all else .

''We've taken our time to see that it's done right,'' Mr. O'Keefe said.

The focus of the current mission is to deliver and install the 45-foot-long, 15-foot-wide and 10-foot-tall truss structure that fills the shuttle's cargo bay. The Starboard 1, or S1, truss is to be attached to the starboard side of a central truss section installed on the station's Destiny science module last April.

The shuttle is commanded by Capt. Jeffrey S. Ashby of the Navy, who is making his third space flight, and piloted by Col. Pamela A. Melroy of the Air Force, who is on her second flight. Also aboard are Dr. David A. Wolf and Dr. Piers J. Sellers. The other two members of the crew, also first-time fliers, are Dr. Sandra H. Magnus, a material scientist, and Dr. Fyodor N. Yurchikhin, a mechanical engineer employed by the Russian aerospace company RSC Energia.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 24 of the National edition with the headline: Shuttle Blasts Off for Space Station. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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