The US shuttle Atlantis was zooming for a rendezvous yesterday with the International Space Station (ISS) on the final mission for the 25-year-old spacecraft.
The shuttle began its 12-day trip on Friday afternoon, when it blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida into a clear blue sky.
The 32nd and final scheduled voyage for Atlantis, first launched in 1985, will take the astronauts to the orbiting space research facility, delivering an integrated cargo carrier and a Russian-built mini research module.
PHOTO: EPA
NASA had warned in the hours after liftoff that the ISS might be forced into a “debris avoidance maneuver” to steer clear of a piece of orbiting space junk, just as Atlantis would be approaching.
But on Saturday the US space agency gave the all clear, and the shuttle remained on schedule to dock at 2:27pm yesterday.
“Updated tracking information showed the object will remain a safe distance away and the maneuver is not necessary,” NASA said on its Web site.
Just before liftoff, launch director Mike Leinbach wished the Atlantis crew “good luck and Godspeed,” encouraging them to “have a little fun up there.”
Based on current plans, the Atlantis launch is one of the last three missions of NASA’s shuttle program, which is due to be mothballed at the end of the year.
After this mission, only two more shuttle launches remain, one in September for Discovery and the final blast off for Endeavour in November.
During a 12-day mission largely spent moored to the ISS, Atlantis and the crew will deliver over 12 tonnes of equipment, as astronauts seek to complete the US$100 billion orbiting outpost.
“Twelve days, three [spacewalks], tons of robotics ... We’re putting on spares that make us feel good about the long-term sustainability of the ISS, replacing batteries that have been up there for a while, and docking a Russian-built ISS module,” space shuttle program manager John Shannon said.
In a poignant moment for NASA as the US space agency counts down towards the end of an era in human spaceflight, Atlantis will be retired upon its safe return home after a quarter-century career.
However, NASA officials did not rule out the possibility of Atlantis taking flight one more time.
“From a processing prospective we are going to process Atlantis like we always do, because it has to be ready for a rescue mission” in the event of an emergency during the final two shuttle flights, Leinbach said. “If it happens to turn into a mission to the space station, we will do what is necessary.”
NASA administrator Bill Gerstenmaier said that any decision to launch an extra mission beyond the final three scheduled this year would probably come from President Barack Obama himself, who would need a budget of between US$600 million and US$1 billion for the flight.
“If we want to make it in a real mission, we will probably like to know in June to get things in place,” and that the extra launch would not be possible before June next year, Gerstenmaier said.
Should an extra flight be added, NASA envisions sending four astronauts to the ISS along with a multi-purpose logistics module.
“This will be the best way to leave the station in the best configuration we can,” Gerstenmaier said.
At present, NASA and partners Russia, Europe and Japan have agreed to keep the orbiting station operational until at least 2020. Once the three remaining shuttles are retired, the US will rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take astronauts to the ISS until a new fleet of commercial space taxis is operational.
Obama effectively abandoned in February plans by his predecessor George W. Bush to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020 and perhaps on to Mars.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS