High winds delay shuttle launch
March 20, 1996
Web posted at: 7:45 p.m. ESTFrom Correspondent John Holliman
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- Launch of the space shuttle Atlantis will be delayed at least a day because of high winds, NASA said Wednesday.
The liftoff was set for Thursday morning, but has been rescheduled for 3:13 a.m. EST Friday. High winds and rough seas in the Atlantic, where the solid rocket boosters drop for recovery, were blamed for the delay. Forecasters predicted better weather for Friday morning.
The rules are meant to ensure the shuttle can glide to a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in case of an emergency shortly after liftoff. If the weather doesn't improve, NASA may reschedule the launch for Friday, when winds are to subside.
NASA also is concerned that strong winds and high seas could make booster recovery in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday difficult or even damage the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.
A lengthy visit
The mission would be the third docking of a shuttle with the Mir space station. (731K QuickTime movie)
Shannon Lucid, 53, would become the third woman to live on the 10-year-old space station. Her crew mates for most of her 4 1/2-month stay will be Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Usachev, who arrived there late last month.
U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard, the only American to spend time on the space station, lived on Mir for nearly four months last year.
Like all previous U.S. astronauts, Lucid said her biggest hurdle in dealing with her Russian colleagues will be language. Her training has focused mostly on "technical Russian," she said. (136K AIFF sound or 136K WAV sound)
Spacewalk planned
The mission will include science experiments and the first spacewalk by Americans outside Mir. In addition, the task of transferring tons of supplies from Atlantis to Mir will help future astronauts learn to live more efficiently on the planned international space station, said Payload Commander Ron Sega. (153K AIFF sound or 153K WAV sound)
During their spacewalk, astronauts Rich Clifford and Linda Godwin will take packets from the shuttle's cargo bay and attach them to Mir to see how certain materials survive in space. They've practiced the walk in a water tank.
'Women love to clean'
Once Lucid is dropped off, Mir is likely to be cleaned more often, a Russian space official said Tuesday.
"We know that women love to clean," said Gen. Yuri Glazkov, deputy commander of Russia's Gargarian Cosmonaut Training Center.
Glazkov also acknowledged that women can be better workers than men and praised the professional qualifications of Lucid, a biochemist and four-time shuttle flight veteran.
"Her profound scientific experience" made Lucid the perfect choice to join Mir, he said. "Whatever she does, she does very thoroughly. She is extremely hard-working."
Lucid, one of NASA's original female astronauts, will be given a few station chores in addition to her U.S. science duties. She'll take care of the life-support and thermal-control systems and fulfill the duties of "engineer No. 2." That's third-in-command of a crew of three.
She says she hasn't felt any discrimination during the past year at the cosmonaut training center and doesn't expect any chauvinism on Mir, either.
"Maybe I'm just not perceiving things," she said, "but I don't have anything to complain about."
The last time a woman -- cosmonaut Yelena Kondakova -- lived on Mir, her male crew mates returned to Earth "even more cultured than they used to be," Glazkov said. Kondakova's nearly six months in space, in 1994 and 1995, is an endurance record for women.
In July, a French woman is scheduled to board Mir for a short visit. It will be the first time two women live on the Russian craft at the same time.
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