ad info

CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
   computing
   personal technology
   space
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:

Hurricane Mitch a concern as Glenn launch countdown begins

Discovery on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on Monday  

October 26, 1998
Web posted at: 2:00 PM EDT

In this story:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- The countdown for John Glenn's return to space began officially at 8 a.m. Monday with NASA meteorologists keeping a close watch on Hurricane Mitch.

Glenn and six other astronauts are scheduled to blast off Thursday at 2 p.m. EST aboard the shuttle Discovery on a nine-day mission that some say has more to do with public relations than hard science.

Nevertheless, more than 3,000 representatives of the media have flocked to the Kennedy Space Center, hotel rooms have been booked for months and more than 300,000 people are expected to watch the liftoff.

Among them will be President Clinton, who will become the first U.S. president to watch a shuttle launch in person. About 70 members of Congress also are expected to attend.

Of immediate concern to NASA officials was Hurricane Mitch, a powerful Caribbean storm.

While the storm appears to be moving away from Florida and favorable weather has been forecast for the launch, NASA is concerned that the hurricane could generate high winds that might jeopardize the shuttle should it have to make an emergency return to Kennedy.

"If we hadn't had the hurricane, I think I'd have been much more relaxed," said shuttle weather officer Ed Priselac. He added that the storm is NASA's "number one concern."

Meteor shower a concern, too

Priselac put the odds of a favorable weather at 60 percent during the launch's 2 1/2-hour launch window. But NASA test director Doug Lyons said, "We don't think we will have to take any action."

Nevertheless, with the shuttles Discovery and Endeavour both on the launch pad, NASA officials will not relax until they are certain there is no danger.

NASA also has a meteorological worry of another sort.

The annual Leonids meteor showers are expected to take place November 17. The showers are thought to be unusually severe this year, and NASA is concerned that they could damage an orbiting spacecraft. NASA says that should delays prevent the Discovery from being launched by November 5, liftoff will be postponed until after the showers are over.

Glenn during training  

Technicians have been loading and checking software for Discovery's computers, and testing the navigation systems. And NASA has already identified a technical problem that requires attention.

A faulty sensor has been detected in one of Discovery's main engines. The sensor ensures that the engine nozzle is pointed in the right direction for takeoff.

Lyons said that engineers will rely on other sources of information -- hydraulic pressure readings, for instance -- to make sure the engine is in the proper position.

Astronauts honored in Houston

Ordinarily, the start of a shuttle launch countdown draws only a few reporters. But the press site at Kennedy Space Center was swarming with journalists Monday, most of them drawn by the return to space of the 77-year-old Glenn.

Glenn will be the oldest person to go into space by 16 years, and the flight will mark his first space mission since 1962, when he became the first American to orbit the planet. Forbidden by President Kennedy from returning to space, Glenn eventually went into politics and is completing his fourth term as a U.S. senator.

Cohen hugs Glenn during the ceremony at Johnson Space Center, Texas Monday  

He lobbied NASA administrator Daniel Goldin strenuously for his chance to take part in a space shuttle mission. He argued that NASA and the elderly on Earth could benefit from studying the effects of weightlessness on astronauts -- including an elderly astronaut like himself -- in space.

Critics, including former astronaut Mike Mullane, argue that the data taken from one elderly astronaut is not good science. But Glenn has said "you've got to start somewhere" and that follow-up studies should follow.

"I don't look at this as a one-shot deal," he says.

Shortly after the countdown began Monday, Glenn and the six other Discovery astronauts were honored in a brief ceremony in Houston by Secretary of Defense William Cohen before flying to Florida to begin final preparations for launch.

Besides conducting medical experiments, the crew will test-fly a computer and other equipment intended for the Hubble Space Telescope. They will also release a satellite that will study the sun.

Altogether, 83 experiments are planned for the nine-day mission.

Reuters contributed to this report.


SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

  
 

Back to the top
© 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.