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| S P E C I A L S: | CNN In-Depth: - Space |
| Mission Mir |
Endeavour blasts off for rendezvous with Mir
Liftoff In this story:
January 22, 1998
- 'Good luck, Andy!'
- 'No second thoughts' about safety
- Wolf leaves his mark
Web posted at: 10:24 p.m. EST (0324 GMT)CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off at 9:48 p.m. Thursday carrying NASA astronaut Andrew Thomas and a crew of six others for a rendezvous with the Russian space station Mir.
Watch the shuttle liftoff 1.7MB/32 sec./240x180
1.0MB/32 sec./160x120
QuickTime movieThe thick, dark clouds that had hovered over the area throughout the afternoon and threatened to postpone the launch vanished by the time the crew headed to the launch pad.
"Good luck, Andy!" well-wishers shouted.
Endeavour, commanded by Terry Willcutt, is expected to link with Mir on Saturday.
A L S O :
CNN Interactive writer shares VIP view of launch prepsThomas, a 46-year-old Australian-born aerospace engineer who is now an American citizen, is to take the place of David Wolf, who has worked aboard Mir since September.
"He's in for the experience of his life," Wolf said. "It will be hard. There's no question."
"There is nothing fundamental about the Mir spacecraft that makes it unsafe. . ."
289K/13 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
536K/24 sec. AIFF or WAV soundThe shuttle used three redesigned, liquid-fuel engines for its 8 1/2 minute climb to orbit. The engines are designed to be safer and easier to maintain.
Along with its crew of six Americans and one Russian, Endeavour is carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment for Mir. The cargo includes food, water, a new air conditioning unit for Mir, where overheating is sometimes a problem, a motion-control computer and other supplies.
'No second thoughts' about safety
Thomas will be the seventh and final NASA astronaut to live aboard Mir. The first, Norman Thagard, spent nearly four months there in 1995.
The visits are to prepare the astronauts for the international space station, Alpha, which is to be assembled in orbit beginning at the end of June, just after Thomas returns to Earth.
The United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada are partners in the $60 billion space station.
The 12-year-old Mir has had its share of mishaps, including a fire and a collision with a cargo ship last year. But Wolf said he had "no second thoughts" about Thomas' safety during Thomas' scheduled 4 1/2-month stay.
"You have to always respect the environment in space," Wolf said. "It inherently has hazards, but there are no more here than in any other spacecraft, and in some ways less. We have an escape vehicle. You have to be willing to use it."
"I would like to assure you that American astronauts on board Mir station performed absolutely adequately," said Gen. Yuri Glazkov, deputy director of the cosmonaut training center in Russia. "But I would like to tell you also that none of the American astronauts broke anything on board the Mir station, as opposed to some of our fellows."
Wolf leaves his mark
While he never broke anything, Wolf admits to making at least one embarrassing mess.
Shortly after arriving in September, Wolf accidentally squirted black currant jelly all over a TV set, stereo, cassettes and air duct.
"It cleaned up pretty well," he wrote in a letter home, "but I have definitely left my mark on Mir."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Related stories:
- Weather may delay shuttle Endeavour - January 21, 1998
- Last U.S. astronaut to blast off for Mir on Thursday - January 20, 1998
- Astronaut David Wolf completes 'spectacular' spacewalk - January 14, 1998
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