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NASA Job Cuts
By
Associated Press
Published: Tue, October 23, 2007 - 2:47 pm
Last Updated: Tue, October 23, 2007 - 3:19 pm
Last Updated: Tue, October 23, 2007 - 3:19 pm
reported during this morning's launch of space shuttle Discovery on
the latest mission to the international space station.
There was some concern prior to blast-off because of some ice on
a pipe carrying hydrogen to the shuttle. But NASA officials say the
ice appeared to break loose during liftoff without causing any
damage.
At least six pieces of foam insulation also fell off of the fuel
tank during liftoff. But NASA says it was well past the crucial
first two minutes and posed no risk to the shuttle.
Discovery and its seven-member crew are on a two-week mission to
deliver an Italian-built compartment that is the size of a small
bus.
Space Shuttle Fact Sheet
-- Seven crew members
-- Commander Pamela Melroy (2nd woman to lead shuttle mission)
-- two-week mission
-- most challenging and complex tasks in the nine years of
orbital assembly of the international space station
-- carrying up an Italian-built live-in compartment about the
size of a small bus
-- will be attached to the space station
-- named Harmony by schoolchildren who took part in a national
competition (About 130 of those youngsters traveled to Cape Canaveral to
witness the launch)
-- Harmony must be installed ahead of European and Japanese labs
-- four spacewalks planned to complete construction job
-- one spacewalk for testing a method for fixing damaged shuttle
thermal tiles using a caulking gun and high-tech goo
-- astronaut Clayton Anderson will return to Earth aboard
Discovery after a five-month station stay
-- Discovery's crew includes Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli,
making his first spaceflight
Launch
-- blasted off at 11:38 a.m.
-- at least six pieces of foam insulation fell off the fuel tank
during liftoff
-- NASA says pieces fell off well past crucial first two
minutes; posed no risk (A hole in the wing brought down Columbia in 2003 -- from
fuel-tank insulation foam falling off at liftoff)
Cargo
-- lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker in 1983's "Return of the Jedi" to mark the 30th anniversary of the first "Star Wars" film
- "Star Wars" director and writer George Lucas attended launch
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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