NASA’s Atlantis shuttle blasted off on Monday with a haul of spare parts for the International Space Station (ISS) and some microscopic worms that could explain muscle loss in space.
The shuttle and its six astronauts left Florida’s Kennedy Space Center without a hitch for an 11-day voyage to deliver assorted gyroscopes, ammonia tanks and other equipment to the ISS.
“A perfect launch, right on time,” said a spokesman for the US space agency as the crew reached orbit — hurtling at a speed of more than 24,000 kilometers per hour.
PHOTO: AFP
With only five launches left before the retirement of the shuttle fleet, NASA officials said the parts were essential for extending the life of the space station, where the crew is due to dock today.
“This flight is all about spares, basically, we’re getting them up there while we still can,” mission director Brian Smith said. “You’ll see this theme in some of the flights that are going to come after ours as well.”
This fifth and final shuttle mission for this year is scheduled to include three space walks to store hardware on the exterior of the space station and bring US astronaut Nicole Stott, who has been on the ISS since August, back to earth.
But the crew will also get to conduct some science, with the help of some ground-breaking worms.
Thousands of the microscopic creatures have been sent from Britain’s University of Nottingham to study the effect of zero gravity on the human body’s muscle development and physiology.
The worms will be stashed inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory on the ISS, where they will be tested with several potential treatments for muscle loss.
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