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Astronauts play with fire,
mourn loss of satelliteMarch 2, 1996
Web posted at: 5:30 p.m. EST(CNN) -- The astronauts aboard the space shuttle Columbia played with fire Saturday, burning various materials in part of a fire-spreading experiment.
Scientists hope to use the test results to determine how air motion affects flames, and to improve fire control systems aboard space craft.
On Friday, the seven-member crew received the latest radio transmissions from the Italian satellite that broke its tether Sunday. The satellite's batteries gave out long after they were expected to, giving the half-ton metal ball an opportunity to transmit data back to Columbia during a close fly-by.
"We joked that it's like the Energizer bunny -- it just kept on going," said Nobie Stone, a NASA scientist on the ground.
But the two Italian astronauts on board the shuttle were devastated by the loss.
"Every time I turn around and I look through the window and I see this empty cargo bay, it is like part of myself has left," said Maurizio Cheli.
The other astronaut, physicist Umberto Guidoni, cried during a conversation with the Italian Space Agency chief.
The satellite was supposed to generate some 3,000 volts of electricity as it swept through the earth's magnetic field on the end of a 12-mile, shoestring-thin tether. But the tether snapped, sending the satellite rushing away from the shuttle.
The satellite and tether are expected to burn in the Earth's gravity in two to three weeks.
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