Shuttle dodges debris, aims for Florida landing
* NASA hopes to land shuttle at 7:05 p.m. EDT in Florida
* Mystery object flew away during last spacewalk
* Six shuttle missions remain before program ends
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept 10 (Reuters) - The shuttleDiscovery crew fired steering rockets on Friday to dodge apiece of space debris during what was expected to be the finalday of a successful resupply run to the International SpaceStation.
NASA doesn't know what the space junk is, except that itlikely came from the shuttle or space station on Saturdayduring the last of the Discovery crew's three spacewalks.
The shuttle departed the station on Tuesday. It isscheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT) on Thursday.
"Exactly what (the debris) is is not known, but it's beenmoving toward the orbiter so it is a concern," said missioncommentator Pat Ryan.
During Discovery's nine-day stay at the station, two otherpieces of orbital debris sent engineers scrambling to prepareavoidance maneuvers, which were later determined to beunnecessary. Those pieces of space junk were identified as partof a spent upper-stage European rocket motor and a fragmentfrom an obsolete weather satellite China destroyed in January2007 during a widely condemned weapons test.
Discovery blasted off a minute before midnight on Aug. 28with more than 7.5 tons of food, laboratory equipment, scienceexperiments, spare parts and a new treadmill and crew quartersfor the space station, which is nearing completion after morethan a decade of construction.
NASA plans six more shuttle missions to the orbitaloutpost, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, before the fleetis retired.
(Editing by Jane Sutton and Phil Stewart)
Source: Reuters
« Back to Sci/Tech News
Related News
-
Space shuttle dodges debris on way home to Earth Sep 10, 2009 @ 01:16 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — With thunderstorms looming back home, shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven sidestepped a small piece of space junk Thursday then aimed for an evening touchdown that was in jeopardy because of the weather.
-
Bad weather delays shuttle landing to Friday Sep 10, 2009 @ 01:16 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA postponed shuttle Discovery's homecoming until Friday due to bad weather at the Florida landing site, officials said on Thursday.
-
Space shuttle to dodge debris on way home Sep 10, 2009 @ 01:16 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has decided to move the shuttle Discovery out of the way of a mystery piece of orbiting junk before the spacecraft heads for a scheduled landing on Earth.
-
Space shuttle may need to dodge debris on way home Sep 10, 2009 @ 01:16 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is considering whether the space shuttle Discovery needs to dodge a piece of space junk before heading for a scheduled landing back on Earth.
-
Bad weather forces space shuttle to skip landing Sep 10, 2009 @ 01:16 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Bad weather prevented space shuttle Discovery from returning home Thursday and kept its astronauts circling the world for at least an extra day.
