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CNN Live Today

Will Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch Today?

Aired April 08, 2002 - 11:25   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to check on in the space shuttle Atlantis, and if weather could be a factor today. Space shuttle Atlantis was scheduled, or is still scheduled to lift off later this afternoon.

Our John Zarrella is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida?

John, thumbs up, thumbs down? How is it looking?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, as usual, the weather in Florida, you have one problem, you get that fixed, then you have to deal with the weather. Today, NASA engineers and weather officials are telling us that winds out at the launch pad gusting to about 30 knots, which just at the limits of what's acceptable high winds also at the emergency landing facility could also become an issue later this afternoon, but it's going to be a real-time call. They will continue the countdown right up until 4:40 Eastern Time, when they hope to get off the ground, and then if the weather permits, well, so be it, they will do it.

The problem they had last Thursday, not only with some nifty weather, but the launch attempt was scrubbed by a leaky hydrogen vent valve on the mobile launch platform. You can see engineers there over the weekend making repairs to that hydrogen gas vent valve, which was pouring out hydrogen gas last Thursday, shut down the launch about 9:30 in the morning, and rescheduled for today, of course now weather permitting.

If they can get Atlantis and the seven astronauts off the ground, the crew will be headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station in a couple days, and the mission will be filled with an ambitious four spacewalks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice-over): Space station Alpha's crew is tidying the place up a bit, awaiting the arrival of visitors. Three years ago when astronaut Ellen Echao (ph) last flew to the station, there was no one there. This time, she says, it will be like visiting somebody's home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They greet you at the door, they bring you inside, they have something ready to serve you, so not only, of course, does it look completely different because there's new modules, but there's really a totally different feel to it.

ZARRELLA: These guests will have a lot to do. In what NASA calls one of the most complex space station missions, the shuttle crew will perform four 6 1/2 hour spacewalks to put addition on the station. Spacewalking astronauts will anchor on to the Destiny module a 43-foot long girder-like segment called a trust. Think of it like a new support beam for an addition to the house. But it's tight-working quarters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of like being in a large pressure suit and getting in to a small car. It's just a really confined space, and getting your gloved hand in to reach a lot of the connections is going to be a challenge.

ZARRELLA: The trust (ph) is the first of several that will be eventually linked together to hold additional solar panels and other equipment to power and cool the station's laboratories. One of the astronauts working the assembly is Jerry Ross, who's making a record seventh space shuttle flight. It's a record Ross hopes doesn't stand.

JERRY ROSS: If we let that record stand, that means that we haven't progressed, we aren't pushing out further and we're not doing what I think we ought to be doing in terms of research of outer space and utilization of outer space.

ZARRELLA: Ross say he Would like to make eight flights, but right now, all he and his crewmates are concerned with is starring work on that new space station addition.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Daryn, because of security concerns here, a lot of what we normally see, the astronauts suiting up, the astronauts having their traditional breakfast, we're not going to see in real-time today; we will be seeing that in tape delay playback, not live, like I am here at the Kennedy Space Center talking to you -- Daryn.

KAGAN: You're the real deal. Let's be clear about that. John, I was reading about these new security precautions, not just about how they don't announce the launch time until 24 hours, but how we won't see astronauts, and when they make their way to the launch pad, they are going to be protected by attack helicopters and fighter jets?

ZARRELLA: That's exactly right. And NASA's security officials say that there is no threat that they are a direct threat that they're worried about; they are just worried about all the possibilities that could be out there to threaten them. It's not like they had an actual threat that they're responding to. This is just general safety concerns, because of course the space shuttle is really the flagship of American power and prestige, and it would be of course, could very well be a likely target. So they want to make sure that nothing would ever happen here at the Kennedy Space Center -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Too bad it's come to that.

John Zarrella at the Kennedy Space Center, thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com