Shuttle crew thrilled as mission winds down

July 14, 1997
Web posted at: 10:15 p.m. EDT (0215 GMT)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- As the space shuttle Columbia Monday neared the end of its 16-day mission, scientists worked around the clock to complete experiments.

Their mission: to set small fires and test space furnaces and other equipment slated for use on a future international space station. Data from those experiments, conducted inside sealed chambers, also could help improve combustion processes on Earth, which would reduce air pollution.

The seven-member crew was mostly exhausted, but thrilled with the results of their efforts.

Columbia is due to land at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday morning. Weather conditions were expected to be favorable for the shuttle's landing.

"Where we are in the mission now is very much, again, like the Kentucky Derby," said NASA mission scientist Michael Robinson. "We're in the home stretch, there's no doubt about it."

"If you walk around the science operations area, there are a lot of tired people and they've got a right to be," Robinson added. "The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy. But they're happy tired. Things have been just great."

Added Lee Briscoe, mission operations director: "We're looking forward to wrapping up the mission."

Columbia's seven crew members had set 197 small test fires as of Monday, 53 more than planned. Columbia, NASA's oldest space shuttle, had only five or six items in its trouble log, impressive for such a long flight, said mission operations director Lee Briscoe.

Among the minor problems was a window ding about one-fifth of an inch across that was caused by space debris. Similar damage has occurred on shuttle flights before and is not considered serious.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
 

• CNN In-Depth: Space

Related story:

• Shuttle astronauts resume delayed science mission - July 2, 1997

Related site:

Note: Page will open in a new browser window

• NASA Shuttle Web

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

Search for related CNN stories:   [Help] Tip: You can restrict your search to the title of a document. Example: title:New Year's Resolutions

Watch these shows on CNN for more sci-tech stories:

CNN Computer Connection | Future Watch | Science & Technology Week

Sound off on our message boards Tell us what you think! You said it...

© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.