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We Have Liftoff: Discovery Launches

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By KURT LOFT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 31, 2008

CAPE CANAVERAL - Discovery blasted off the pad on time and without a hitch Saturday, zipping seven astronauts on their way to the International Space Station.

Minutes before the shuttle roared skyward at 5:02 p.m., commander Mark Kelly quipped over the radio, "Stand by for the greatest show on Earth."

He wasn't far off the mark. Tens of thousands of people crammed roadways around Kennedy Space Center, Titusville and Cocoa Beach to see the spectacle of a shuttle belching 7 million pounds of thrust against a blue Florida sky. After releasing its twin solid rocket boosters, the spacecraft was a blurred bullet, traveling at 10,000 mph halfway across the Atlantic Ocean.

Shortly before the separation of the external fuel tank, some foam insulation about the size of a piece of notebook paper peeled off the tank and struck the shuttle's underbelly. NASA officials say it presents no problem because it occurred past the "aerodynamic threshold," an altitude where the air is too thin for a damaging impact. However, the crew will follow its usual procedure of inspecting the craft using a camera on the end of a boom.

The goal of the mission is to deliver the massive pressurized Kibo science lab, Japan's contribution to the $100 billion orbiting outpost.

Looking like a giant soda can, the 32,000-pound Kibo is crammed with science experiments and room for four people to work in microgravity.

When Discovery blasted off, it was 6 a.m. in Japan, and millions were glued to televisions and laptops to watch the fiery ascent, according to a spokesman for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The crew also will ferry spare parts to fix a faulty toilet.

The mission marks a milestone in the 28 years of flying shuttles. With Discovery's 35th flight, only 10 missions are left in the program before NASA retires its fleet in two years. That means the agency must complete the station with nine flights - one is dedicated to servicing the Hubble Space Telescope - and ending the program after 133 missions.

Meeting that deadline is doable, said Michael Curie, a spokesman at NASA headquarters in Washington.

"Based on past flight rates and a good understanding of the work that's required on the upcoming flights, we should be able to fly all shuttle missions between now and September 2010," he said.

Discovery is scheduled to glide home to Kennedy Space Center on June 14.

The next shuttle mission, which is to service the Hubble, will be Oct. 8.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at kloft@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7570.

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