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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With the Crew of Space Shuttle Columbia

Aired March 09, 2002 - 08:15   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Miles O'Brien reporting live from the Johnson Space Center in the place they call Building 9. This is where astronauts come to train. This, as a matter of fact, a mockup of the space shuttle Columbia. From the mockup to the real thing. We head up into space.

Hurtling around the planet at about 350 miles in altitude, 17,500 miles an hour -- of course it doesn't feel that way -- is the crew of the space shuttle Columbia, which has had an excellent week in space.

And let's start with the commander, who's front and center, Scott "Scooter" Altman.

And Scooter, I've got to ask you, a week ago if we were talking, we'd be talking about a problem with the cooling system on the orbiter, the possibility of a shortened mission. Is there any lingering concern about that cooling system and how gratified are you that you got through the week?

SCOTT ALTMAN, SHUTTLE COMMANDER: Well, you know, there's always the concern that something could change. But we are incredibly happy and grateful that we were able to stay up here. There was a lot of concern a week ago and it's great to now be able to look back and see how much that's turned around and what a success the mission has become.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's send it over to John Grunsfeld, who confessed to me once he's a Hubble hugger. There I said it. He's out with it now. He's a Hubble hugger. And, John, you're the only return space walker on this mission. A lot of things to accomplish. As you look back on it, what was the hardest moment for you? Was it that change-out at the power control unit?

JOHN GRUNSFELD, MISSION SPECIALIST: I think, Miles, it was the change-out of the power control unit and, you know, Rick did a terrific job in getting the box, the old CPU out of the telescope and I started mating up connectors. And I got about two thirds of the way up and there were one or two connectors that had a big bundle of wires in front of it.

And I just kind of sat back and started laughing because I thought, this is never going to work. And we persevered and were able to get all the connections up and it turned out to be, I think, our shortest day. And we're really just happy that the PCU worked out so well.

O'BRIEN: Send it up to Jim Newman above you there. Jim...

ALTMAN: Yes, I just have to jump in and say kudos to Jim Newman for saving that day. He saw the malfunction with John's suit, helped get him out of that and into another one. So I was worried we were going to lose a whole day of EVA right then. And I think his quick actions and everybody's support jumping in there really saved it.

(AUDIO GAP)

O'BRIEN: ... our viewers that on that critical EVA day, just as they were about to step out, John Grunsfeld's suit sprung a leak quite literally, some of the cooling water that runs through it.

Jim, what went through your mind at that time? Was there time to think or did you just get the towels out and get to it?

JIM NEWMAN, MISSION SPECIALIST: The first thing that went through my mind is to immediately let everybody know that we weren't going to be going out in the next few minutes as we thought we were going to and that we needed to assess the situation so we could get Houston on board with us as part of the team to help us make some good decisions about where to go next.

I was sure we weren't going out right away. I was scared we wouldn't go out at all that day. But Houston let us do a relative quick turn and press on with the EVA, which was very successful. We're very grateful.

O'BRIEN: Set your time line back by only a couple of hours. No worse for the wear as a result. Mike Massimino, a rookie astronaut, rookie space walker, obviously. Were you at all nervous on that first go round, being around a $2 billion telescope? You know, you just don't want to break it because if you break it you own it, right?

MIKE MASSIMINO, MISSION SPECIALIST: Well, yes. I was a little nervous and wondering what was going to happen. But what made me feel better about it, Miles, was I had a real good partner, my buddy with me out there knew Jim and I can work well together. That made me feel a lot better. I knew I was going to have John and Rick looking after us on the checklist inside and Scooter and Digger watching us and Nancy flying me around on the arm. And, of course, all the folks down in mission control looking after us.

So when I thought of it as a team effort, that made me feel a lot better. I knew the suits were good, we were going to be safe in the suits and everyone was watching out for us. So that made me feel better about it.

All that said, though, I knew I really needed to be careful, that, you know, the actions that we were going to be taking out there were going to be important and we had to be real careful with every move to make sure that we did the right thing. And as a result, we did and it was really just an incredible experience.

O'BRIEN: Well, I know you've got to feel better when you have guys with names like Scooter and Digger running the show.

Let's move it over to Nancy Currie, who was running that 50 foot robotic arm. Nancy is an Army helicopter pilot, which she says makes it easier for her to do her job. What's it like, though, having a person on the end of that arm, sort of like a human socket wrench, Nancy? Is it a nerve wracking job or do you sort of get into it and it becomes an extension of your arm almost?

NANCY CURRIE, MISSION SPECIALIST: Yes, I think that's pretty well said. It really becomes an extension of me. And John said it best the other day, that I was connected to the hand controllers, which were manipulating the arm, which was connected to John, which at one point was connected to Rick, maneuvering him. And if that didn't epitomize the team effort on this crew, I'm not sure what did throughout the entire mission.

O'BRIEN: The thigh bone is connected to the knee bone and all that kind of stuff. Rick Linnehan, how was it for you out there on that power control unit change out? It seemed -- I was just watching that, you know, that helmet mounted camera video trying to get those gloves in there. It seemed incredibly difficult. I wonder if at the end your hands were almost raw.

RICK LINNEHAN, MISSION SPECIALIST: Well, Miles, as John said, when we first opened the door to the PCU, we were a little, I guess we were taken aback because the cables at the top of the PCU were out of a bit farther than what we were used to training on. And so we wondered if we could get the cables off.

As it turns out, due to the extreme low temperatures up here the cables are very stiff. So, yes, it was tough to get the cables to bend back and get the connectors back. And as you can see in the helicam, you had the same view I did. I had a bit of trouble trying to get the cables in and I kind of protected the connectors in my hand. And once I had them, I was able to bring the connectors back and put them in a special board to restrain them so John could get them to put back later.

So we were very happy that everything went as well as it did. We had a good time and I'm just thrilled that Hubble is living and breathing again.

O'BRIEN: All right, a final thought, I guess we've got to give the pilot an opportunity to talk. The pilot never gets to talk. He does all the hard work on the TV. I'm told that I'm out of time, but just briefly, Digger Carey, is it a sad moment leaving that Hubble behind?

DUANE CAREY, PILOT: Well, I guess it is a little bit because it's so visually appealing to look at. But more than that, it's happy to see it leave and it was a happy feeling to see it leave in such good shape. I mean as these guys were putting in the new parts, we were getting updates from the ground that the parts that they had put in were working correctly and I'll tell you, I just can't wait for the next couple weeks when we start seeing images of that beauty because I think it's going to roll everybody's socks down. O'BRIEN: It's kind of like eye surgery, you've got to wait for the bandages to come off.

Excellent work, guys. Great -- and gal. Great week in space. Thanks for joining us live from the flight deck of the space shuttle Columbia on their way back home early Tuesday morning landing. Thanks again to the crew.

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