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CNN Live At Daybreak
After One-Day Delay, Space Shuttle Columbia Scheduled to Blast Off in Half an Hour
Aired March 01, 2002 - 05:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: After a one-day delay for warmer weather, Space Shuttle Columbia is scheduled to blast off in just a half hour. It's the last picture here of Columbia, and it's seven member crew will lift off on a mission to renovate the Hubble space telescope.
And CNN Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and he joins us live now with an update. So the launch will probably go off this morning, huh?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, Carol, don't make me do that. Don't make me do that. There have been many, many times I have said things I have regretted later trying to predict the space shuttle launch. I will tell you this, so far the Space Shuttle Columbia, which is just a month shy of its 21st anniversary on it's first flight back in April 1981, is performing flawlessly. The weather is a bit iffy. There are some low clouds which are threatening in the area now. Just -- well, stay tuned is the term we use in television on that one.
Let's talk a little bit about this mission. The seven member crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia strapped in and ready. They've got their tools and their tool belts ready on their way to go do some high-flying orbital repair work on the $6 billion Hubble space telescope.
There's Scott Altman. He's the commander of this mission. They call him Scooter. Don't ask why, he won't tell you. He flew the stunt flying for the movie "Top Gun." They're going to be testing his stick and runner capability on this mission as he begins this rendezvous with the space shuttle -- excuse me, with the Hubble space telescope, which will take about 48 hours from launch whenever it happens -- hopefully this morning.
There you see some pictures from inside the cockpit of Columbia. Sort of a sideways shot. That's the left front seat, as Scott Altman gets ready to strap himself in, wearing the suits they call pumpkin suits. You notice that glowing light stick on his left shoulder, that's all to make it more visible should the crew have to bail out. Not the kind of thing NASA would like to see happen right now. And there's Altman as he gets ready, strapped in.
They've gone through most of their checklist, and things are going smoothly, as we said. The crew -- of course, this is a bit backwards. As you can see, they've walked out of the operations and checkout building, as you can see there. Right beside him is his pilot Digger Carey (ph). Don't ask him why he's called Digger either. He won't tell you that.
Nancy Curry (ph), the shortest member of this crew, the only female who will be operating the robotic arm, which will pluck the Hubble out of its orbit and begin the work. This is the fourth Hubble repair mission. The one which you might remember the most was back in December of '93, when the infamously blurry Hubble was corrected with -- well, a glorified set of prescription glasses, if you will.
Since then, there have been a -- two other repair missions. This one, the fourth one, will involve a series of things. Among the things, putting in a new camera tens times stronger than the one that is there now. New solar rays, much stronger, much better. And a moment that will cause scientists to hold their breath. They will actually take out the power control unit of the Hubble, shut it down for the first time in 12 years, and try to put a new one in. It's kind of like open heart surgery without a heart lung machine.
Just quickly, the Hubble will meet up with the shuttle this way, they will pluck it out of orbit, bring it in sideways, put it onto what amounts to a glorified lazy Susan. It will be twisted around and tilted during the week, while those five space walks are attempted. It's the busiest, most difficult, most challenging series of space walks that NASA has ever attempted. And we, of course, will be watching it all along the way -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And the mission is in good hands with guys named Digger and Scooter.
O'BRIEN: That's right.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Miles. We'll get back to you when the space shuttle lifts off, if it lifts off today.
O'BRIEN: Please do. I'll be...
COSTELLO: But we'll get back to you anyway. We like to hear from Miles.
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