Interview with Atlantis astronauts

Thumbs up to new space station technology

Aired November 14, 1995
9:01 a.m. EST (1401 GMT)

Abstract : The astronauts aboard the space shuttle "Atlantis" say the link up of U.S. and Russian parts succeeded. The new docking tunnel will stay with the Russian station and tests technology for the next station.

Full Text:

BILL HEMMER, Anchor: The Atlantis crew installed a 15-foot docking tunnel that will be used in tomorrow's docking with the Russian space station Mir.

ANDREA ARCENEAUX, Anchor: The tunnel will remain attached to Mir even after the shuttle leaves, to make future hook-ups safer and easier.

BILL HEMMER: CNN's John Holliman has been following the shuttle mission. He joins us now with a conversation with the astronauts. Good morning, John.

JOHN HOLLIMAN, Correspondent: The Atlantis has finished the first step in a major goal of the space program, assembling a space station in orbit. The crew is joining us live. We thought they'd be on the shuttle's flight deck, but in fact, they are doing live television from a place it's never been done before, the Russian-built docking tunnel as Atlantis speeds over the Mediterranean Sea, trailing the Mir by about 900 miles and closing at a rate of 119 miles each orbit. Commander Ken Cameron, does it worry you that the U.S. government is prepared to shut down in an hour or two and NASA will probably only have a bare-bones staff in a few hours to support your mission?

KENNETH CAMERON, Shuttle Commander: No, we're not worried. We know that we have a very dedicated team at NASA supporting this mission, both within the government and also with the many contractors that support the space shuttle. We realize that there's a lot going on the financial world and in the upper echelons of government, but the NASA family will look out for each other and we know that mission control and the many folks at NASA are taking care of us.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: For pilot Jim Halsell, what's been the biggest surprise of this flight for you so far?

JAMES HALSELL, `Atlantis' Pilot: Well, compared to my first flight, we're flying at a slightly higher altitude. I can see a lot more of the Earth every time I look out the window, and the sun angles just happen to be lower, so we get a lot of perspective, a lot of shadows that bring out a lot of relief of the Earth. So flying over the Indes or over the Himalayas or over the Alps is just a spectacular experience, and it's something I won't soon forget.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: Yeah, Chris Hadfield is the Canadian member of the crew. Chris, how did the docking this morning go from your perspective, as you put the tunnel, where you're standing, or floating, right now onto the shuttle's airlock, and when you're done, please pass the microphone over to Commander Cameron for the same question for him, as far as how the connection of these two pieces went.

CHRIS HADFIELD, Mission Specialist: John, it went perfectly. I had the chance to use the Canada Arm, the robot arm built by Canada that's put on the shuttle today, and it worked exactly like it had in the best of our training simulators in Houston. I picked it up out of the back of the bay and brought it forward, and then positioned it exactly where I wanted it to be using the on-board systems and the space vision system and the digit that comes out of the arm. And then when we assembled it, the mechanism, which was built in Russia, just worked exactly like everybody said, so it was letter perfect.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: Yeah. Commander, from your perspective, you had to sort of drive the shuttle into this docking tunnel, didn't you?

KENNETH CAMERON: Yes, that was what we used to make the actual energy of contact, was the thruster firing from the orbiter, and this was something we had given considerable thought to, about what would be the required amount of energy, how would the mechanism work, how- what kind of tolerances had to present within the contact surfaces, and it had been worked out very thoroughly in Houston and in Moscow, since this is the first time that we'd ever joined Russian and American hardware in quite this way.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: Yeah, another question for you, commander. Do you have any concerns, as you get ready to take a six-hour nap - I won't call it a full-night's sleep - and then get ready for tomorrow's docking with the Mir itself. Everything working pretty well?

KENNETH CAMERON: Well, we've had a series of busy days. If we can finish up all of our objectives today, we'll probably try and wind down a little early, and then everyone will be looking for a good night's sleep, because as you said, we have a very busy day tomorrow.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: One more question for Chris Hadfield, if I can, Chris. You got to experience a shuttle launch for the first time two days ago. Describe it to us.

CHRIS HADFIELD: It is spectacular. From about five minutes in, when we knew for sure that we were going to have the weather to go, the smile on my face just got bigger and bigger, and I was just beaming through the whole launch. I mean, it is just an amazing ride. I've had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: Right, and if we've got time, one last, quick question for Jim Halsell - is what you're doing really worth it? Does the world really need a second space station in orbit right now?

JAMES HALSELL: You better believe it, John. What we're doing is setting the ground work for a series of experimental laboratories. It's going to mean a lot for mankind. The science that we're going to be able to bring home when we're able to do continuous scientific research in orbit, it's going to bring back a lot of payback to the people on Earth, and that's what we're trying to achieve, is improve the lives of the people on Earth.

JOHN HOLLIMAN: All right, Commander Cameron and members of the Atlantis, thanks for allowing us to visit your flight deck today. Good luck with the docking. We'll talk again later when you weight something, after you land next week. Gentlemen, thanks very much.

Interview with Atlantis astronauts

Thumbs up to new space station technology

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