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American Morning

NASA Beefs Up Security for Tonight's Launch

Aired November 29, 2001 - 09:20   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: NASA is on high alert for tonight's planned launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Endeavour" will be the first shuttle to launch since the attacks of 9-11. NASA is taking unprecedented security steps to insure the safety of the shuttle and its crew, and our very own Miles O'Brien has more on that.

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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Space travel has always been risky business. But these days, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, there are some new dangers looming. This is the first shuttle launch since September 11th, and the space agency is taking some extreme measures to ensure Endeavor, and her 7-person crew, lift off the pad safe and sound.

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MAJOR MIKE REIN, AIR FORCE SPOKESMAN: All of our national space assets are very important to America, and the shuttle is the star of the fleet, and we need to protect our access to space.

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O'BRIEN: An Air Force mobile air traffic control squadron set up shop on Cape Canaveral Air Station shortly after the terror attacks. Its high-powered radar scanning a 200-mile radius.

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LT. COL. RANDY NELSON, AIR CONTROL SQUADRON: The communications, the data-linking capability that we provide to the decision makers, both up and down channel, is literally instantaneous.

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O'BRIEN: Airspace around a shuttle launch has always been restricted. Private planes were allowed no closer than five nautical miles from the pad. For this launch, the map has been re-drawn. General aviation ban for 30 nautical miles and from 30-40 miles, private planes will be allowed only with permission, and with close contact to air traffic control. Fighter jets will be there in case a plane goes astray. Last month, they escorted the $2,000,000,000 shuttle to the pad, but don't ask when and where they will be during the launch. O'BRIEN (on camera): Such is the nature of security measures. Of course, simply talking about them undermines their efficacy. But this much is clearly evident: the shuttle is a high-profile icon of American technological achievement, and when fully fueled with a half million gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, it has the explosive force of a small nuclear bomb. In short, it is a very tempting target for terrorists.

(voice-over): NASA is thinking about human targets as well. When the astronauts march out to the lunch pad, the public and the media will not be there to wish them well as usual. Just one more way the space agency hopes to ensure things do, in fact, go well. Miles O'Brien, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

ZAHN: And as we've been telling you throughout the morning, controllers will decide in the next few hours whether to fuel the shuttle for tonight's launch. There is a docking problem with the space station. Sensors, apparently, are showing that an unmanned craft that arrived yesterday is not firmly docked.

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