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Shuttle Primed for Crew-Exchange Mission to Station

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March 7, 2001, Section A, Page 16Buy Reprints
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The space shuttle Discovery's mission to the International Space Station is a mission of firsts -- but it should be repeated so often in the future that eventually hardly anyone will notice.

The Discovery, with two groups of astronauts, is scheduled to blast off on Thursday for the first crew exchange on the new station. The shuttle is also taking up the first of a new type of moving van designed to make routine trips hauling cargo and experiments to and from the station.

The mission is the eighth shuttle mission to the station, a project led by the United States and sponsored by 16 nations, and is to be highlighted by the changing of the guard aboard the outpost. The first crew to begin permanent occupation of the station, an American-led team of three astronauts that came aboard on Nov. 2, is to relinquish control to a replacement team led by a Russian.

The Discovery is set to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:42 a.m. Eastern time. Officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that no technical problems threatened the launching but that there were concerns about possible low temperatures in the early morning. Temperatures in the low 40's could contribute to ice buildup on the shuttle's external fuel tank that could fall off and endanger the space plane on liftoff.

The shuttle is to carry seven astronauts to the station, including three making up the so-called Expedition Two replacement crew. Project managers plan to rotate this and future crews aboard the station about every four months.

The station's next residents will be under the command of Yuri V. Usachev, a veteran astronaut who has logged 386 days in space, including two long tours on Russia's Mir space station, and six spacewalks. Accompanying him on the expected four-month tour are Col. Susan B. Helms of the United States Air Force and Col. James S. Voss of the Air Force, retired, both of whom have flown on four previous shuttle missions. All three astronauts briefly toured their future space home last May as part of the third shuttle crew to visit the station on a supply flight.

At the end of its almost 12-day mission, the Discovery is to return the Expedition One crew, which will have completed a 140-day ''shake-down cruise'' of the station by setting up and testing its systems. The station commander, Capt. William M. Shepherd of the United States Navy, and the Russians, Yuri P. Gidzenko and Sergei K. Krikalev, worked long hours readying the research outpost for future crews. Problems included trouble-shooting balky computer setups and stowing supplies misplaced by a troublesome inventory system.

Captain Shepherd made it clear in an orbital news conference last month that he and his colleagues were ready to come home.

''The first month you're kind of overjoyed and about the fourth or fifth month, you're kind of ready to come home,'' he said. ''I think we'll be happy to turn a good ship over to the next crew.''

Mr. Usachev said he and his crew, who have trained together for four years, were ready to take over the station. Their preparation has included teleconferences with the Expedition One crew on what to expect. Colonel Helms, for instance, said this led her to take extra computer classes to prepare her to deal with the complex systems on the station.

In addition to the crew exchange, the Discovery mission includes taking equipment to the station and outfitting it for further expansion. The shuttle is carrying one of three pressurized cargo modules made by the Italian Space Agency that will serve as moving vans to haul equipment and supplies between Earth and the station. These multipurpose logistics modules, which cost $150 million each, are Italy's main contribution to the $60 billion station.

The shuttle mission, which is to include two spacewalks by pairs of astronauts to add equipment to the station, is commanded by Capt. James D. Wetherbee of the Navy, making his fifth flight into space. The mission pilot is Lt. Col. James M. Kelly of the Air Force who, like Flight Engineer Paul W. Richards, is making his first space flight. Rounding out the crew is Dr. Andrew S. W. Thomas, an Australian-born mechanical engineer whose two previous trips into space included a four-month stay on Mir in 1998.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 16 of the National edition with the headline: Shuttle Primed for Crew-Exchange Mission to Station. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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