today's launch of atlantis will mark a
historic milestone in u.s space flight
endeavors
the primary objective of this mission is
to dock for the first time with russia's
mir space station
this is also the 100th u.s human space
launch dating back to alan shepard's
first historic 15-minute sub-orbital
flight 34 years ago
also this will be the first time 10
individuals will fly aboard the shuttle
during a single flight
and we are seeing live video or live tv
coverage of our
seven ascent astronauts who will be
flying aboard atlantis today of course
we'll be
dropping off the two cosmonauts and
returning with two other cosmonauts and
astronaut norm thaggart on the space
station
we are looking at uh mission specialist
greg harbaugh who is on his uh third
flight today he is mission specialist
number two
and mission specialist number one is
ellen baker
she also is on her third flight and she
is the payload commander for sts-71
the mission commander flight commander
is a former chief of the astronaut
office commander hoot robert hoot gibson
on his fifth flight
uh one of our two cosmonauts that will
be flying today is anatoly soloviev on
his fourth flight into space his first
aboard the shuttle he is the mere 19th
commander
and his fellow cosmonaut nikolai budaran
on his first flight into space
and uh our own pilot charles precourt
who was on his second flight into space
today
following their lunch the crew will be
given a uh briefing on today's weather's
conditions which at ksc as well as at
the various contingency landing sites
around the globe
and then they'll put on their flight
suits and make preparations to depart
their crew quarters for the launch pad
this is shuttle launch control t-minus
three hours and holding
and we have live tv of our seven crew
members who will fly aboard atlantis
today
beginning with commander robert hoot
gibson who will be on his fifth
space shuttle flight
he is the former chief of the astronaut
office uh just prior to uh taking this
command position
for this most significant flight sts-71
which will dock for the first time with
the
russian mir space station
gibson is being joined by his pilot and
his mission specialists as well as his
as well as the two cosmonauts who will
fly aboard
atlantis today
his pilot's name is charles precourt and
of course he is
the
second
in command aboard the shuttle
and this is his second flight into space
today
they are being joined by mission
specialists ellen baker
she is on her third flight and she is
the payload commander for sts-71 she has
prime responsibility for the space lab
that is situated in atlantis payload bay
this looks like
our mission specialist greg harbaugh
and he is difficult to distinguish them
sometimes in their helmets in suit
but he is the
he is responsible for the orbiter
docking system which is also in
atlanta's payload bay
next we have
one of our two cosmonauts who will be
flying on board today this is
nikolai budaran who is on his first
space flight
he will serve as the flight engineer for
the
mir 19 crew
and they plan to stay on the
russian space station for several months
once we launch and deliver them to that
space station
mission specialist bonnie dunbar is
preparing her for her fourth flight
she trained in star city in russia as
the backup to
astronaut dr norm thagard who is
currently a board mayor
and she would have been
aboard the mere space station at this
time if there had been any reason to not
permit dr thagar to fly of course he has
been on board for the past three months
and now she's going to go and greet him
and assist in the process to bring him
back
our second cosmonaut who will be flying
aboard the space shuttle atlantis today
is anatoly soloviev
he is on his fourth flight into space
this of course being his first
space shuttle launch and he is the
commander for the mir 19 crew
the mir 19 crew of course consisting of
himself
and
budarin
this is shuttle launch control at t
minus three hours and holding and we
have live pictures of our seven person
crew who are going to be flying today
aboard space shuttle atlantis
and we have uh our first look today of
who gibson as he is walking out with the
rest of his crew
coming with him as the commander of the
mirror 19 crew
commander
as well as the other members of the crew
pilot charles precourt mission
specialist ellen baker greg harbaugh
bonnie dunbar and cosmonaut nikolai
budaran
all are in the process now of making
their
entry into the astro van where they will
be driven
on about a 25 minute trip out to launch
pad 39a
resume the account and go for launch
please
astros go you have a range clear to
launch
copy launch director ntd 212
director go ahead yes sir your lost team
is ready to proceed at 10 27.
hi copy i'll be on my pole at this time
launch direct on 212 coming around for
go for launch payload director go
engineering director gm engineering is
goal
snma director
snmas
uh stand by a second while i say a
message to atlantis
launch director
well i hope the uh vehicle is ready the
weather is finally coming there for us
and so
you guys have a good mission
and we'll see you back here in about a
week plus a few days
jim thank you very much it's always a
pleasure to work with you uh we are more
than ready and maybe it's gonna feel
twice as good to get off today thanks
for all the uh thanks for all the great
work and the great support
and entertainment director you have
requests to receive the launch okay
thank you
yeah
and we have a go for auto sequence start
atlantis onboard computers have primary
control of all the vehicles critical
functions
t-minus twenty
fifteen
twelve
t-minus ten
nine
eight
seven
six
five we have three main engines up and
running
two
one
and liftoff of the space shuttle
atlantis on a mission that will herald a
new day of international cooperation in
space
atlantis is completing a roll maneuver
as the vehicle turns into a heads down
position
on course for 161 nautical mile orbit
and rendezvous with space station mir
atlantis's three main engines are
throttling down now at 68 percent of
rated thrust as the vehicle passes
through the area of maximum dynamic
pressure approaching one minute into the
flight the orbiter is downrange from the
launch site three nautical miles
altitude already up to forty thousand
feet
atlantis houston go at throttle up
three liquid fueled engines are back at
full throttle of 104 percent
the vehicle's altitude is approaching 70
thousand feet downrange from the launch
site ten nautical miles
atlantis is already traveling two
thousand miles per hour as the vehicle
passes through one and a half minutes
into the flight
the next event is burnout and separation
of the twin solid rocket boosters at
about the two minute four second mark of
the flight
srb separation is confirmed aboard the
orbiter
atlantis is downrange from the launch
site 32 nautical miles altitude is 170
000 feet
traveling 4 400 feet per second or about
3 thousand miles per hour performance
nominal
we copy performance is nominal kurt
houston we show michael on speed
atlantis houston we show a nominal miko
ohm's one not
required we now again have live
television
from the cargo bay the spacecraft this
from a
camera that's uh in the forward corner
looking at the front of the space lab
module mounted at the far end of the
cargo bay of the shuttle
this is mission control houston this
live television from atlanta shows the
docking module
located in the forward portion of the
cargo bay of the shuttle
out to the odf whenever you're ready
go ahead sir
uh yeah that all went uh
very well according to the procedure and
without any
difficulty i
have removed and stowed the three
identified caps at the four and a half
sections of the booster fan
and at the aft end of the mixing box
forward of the ods
i verified good airflow coming at the
top of
the outlet there
around the top of the halo and the
external airlock top of the ods in other
words
and
the payload isolation valve was closed
it is open and
i think that's it
let me know if you have any questions
but i think we've got a good
configuration
you