from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
this is space shuttle Columbia launch
control the countdown for launch of
Columbia and space shuttle mission STS
73 is continuing on schedule this
morning the window for launch of
Columbia opens at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time
and extends for two and a half hours
this is shuttle launch control at
t-minus three hours and holding and all
seven of our astronauts who are planning
on flying this morning herb president
accounted for it breakfast everything
continues to run smooth and with the
vehicle and all of the astronauts have
been awakened and they're on schedule
we have Kathryn Thornton mission
specialists as well as payload
specialist Fred Leslie Albert's a co
this is our pilot Kent Rominger who'll
be flying for his first time today
see the next to him as mission
specialist Michael lopez-alegria making
his first flight into space today and
seated next to him is our commander Ken
Bowersox commander of this seven-person
crew making his third flight into space
today and to round out the crew we have
Fred Leslie payload mission payload
specialist as well as the third mission
specialists Kathryn Kuhlman all crew
appear to be alert and ready to fly make
this final attempt we hope at launching
Columbia today this is shuttle launch
control at t-minus 3 hours and holding
you know we have live TV coverage of the
crew donning their flight suits and the
crew quarters commander Ken Bowersox is
again suiting up for this attempt to
launch today commander Bowersox was a
pilot on STS 50 the first United States
microgravity laboratory and most
recently served as pilot on sts-61 the
first hubble space telescope servicing
mission he's been joined by his pilot
Kent Rominger who is a highly decorated
Navy pilot whose last assignment with
the Navy was during Desert Storm where
he served as Operations Officer for
fighter squadron 211 aboard the USS
Nimitz in the Arabian Gulf
Fred Leslie is one of our two payload
specialists to be flying today he's
making his first trip in his face
Leslie holds a world record as a
participant in the 200 person freefall
formation as a skydiver he's an avid
skydiver
that occurred back in 1992
the crew members are being assisted with
their launch intercepts by sleep
technicians from both Kennedy Space
Center and the Johnson Space Center
Michael lopez-alegria was born in Madrid
Spain grew up in California and has been
a naval aviator since 1981
these suits are partially inflated to
allow for added comfort and protection
mission specialists Kathy Coleman
preparing to make her first trip into
space today Shields born in South
Carolina
and she's done some research for the air
force and Sutton endurance and tolerance
records as a test subject in the
centrifuge program
Albert Sacco one of our two payload
specialist born in Massachusetts he'll
be working with the crystal growth
experiments aboard this space shuttle
mission this will be his first
spaceflight
payload commander Catherine Thornton the
most experienced as far as spaceflight
goes this is her she's bring before her
preparing for her fourth flight today
again she will be the payload commander
aboard this mission she's been an
astronaut since 1984 and she's flown on
missions STS 33 sts-49 and she was a
spacewalk specialist aboard sts-61 the
Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission
this is shuttle launch control t-minus
three hours and holding and we have live
TV coverage of our seven crew members
will be flying aboard space shuttle
Columbia this morning again they're
coming out of their crew quarters
getting onto the elevator which will
take them down to the Astro van
commander Bowersox with payload
commander Kathryn Norton followed by the
rest of the crew never married before
their drive out to the pad and for their
greatly anticipated launch today but at
this time everything continues to
operate properly and no technical issues
are being worked and we're just a few
seconds from coming out of our hold at
t-minus 3 hours and we are at t-minus 3
hours and Counting this is shuttle
launch control at t-minus two hours 43
minutes and Counting the crew has
arrived at the pad and they are in the
process now of entering the vehicle
commander Ken Bowersox is preparing for
his third mission aboard space shuttle
commander Ken Bowersox has a energy
vehicle and now preparations are being
made to assist Albert Sacco and entering
the vehicle he is one of two payload
specialists preparing to fly today
preparing next enter the vehicle is
pilot Kent Rominger on his first trip
into space
next enter the vehicle is Kathy Thornton
she is the payload commander for mission
STS 73 and a veteran of three Shuttle
missions Katherine Coleman or mission
specialist one is a captain in the Air
Force and preparing for her first flight
into space
this is shuttle launch control at
t-minus two hours nine minutes and
Counting five of the seven astronauts
are already on board the space shuttle
Columbia Fred Leslie at this time is
preparing to make his way aboard the
orbiter he is one of two payload
specialists on this 16-day mission and
is responsible for the fluid flow
experiments in the space lab at this
time Michael lopez-alegria is preparing
to board the vehicle he will serve as
the flight engineer on this mission
so I clear this OTC on air BAM - for a
Content ps1 - okay I heard everybody
Kathy's got a squeak so I should try to
get a mystery
okay
this is shuttle launch control at
t-minus 48 minutes and Counting and we
have a live video live TV of the shuttle
training aircraft departing the shuttle
landing facility being piloted by
astronaut Bob Cabana and he will remain
aloft in this shuttle training aircraft
through the duration of this camp today
and through launch control we are at
copy and Columbia we get the problem
cleared up with a range I think we'll be
in a configuration where we can launch
today so have a good flight and we'll
see you back here in a few days this is
shuttle launch control at t-minus 9
minutes and holding with just under 40
seconds remaining in our hold and those
words from launch director Jim
Harrington to NASA test director John
Guidi that we will pick up the count at
t-minus 9 minutes on time and if we
don't have word from the range that they
have resolved their problem then we will
hold at t-minus five minutes until that
problem is resolved all weather issues
have been cleared we're not working any
weather concerns at this point Deena
from a launch standpoint or a return to
launch site landing abort we are four
minutes away from picking up the count
plfft t-minus nine minutes and Counting
one mark t-minus nine minutes and
Counting Oh a repack we're in the
process now of retracting the orbiter
access arm that permits the crew to
enter in depart from the orbiter
Columbia
go thorough thank you launch director
entity you're clear to launch
Cuffy thank you and all stations we'll
pick up the count momentarily kill us
because the pen on your mark give us
copies popular thing about my mark three
two one mark
and we at t-minus five minutes and
Counting we have a go for APU start no
problems are being reported from the
crew t-minus one minute 45 seconds and
counting launch operations continue to
go well this morning as the space
shuttle Columbia soon will begin at 16
de mission to continue microgravity
research t-minus one minute 30 seconds
t-minus 60 seconds and counting
t-minus 50 seconds and counting and we
are transferring to orbiter in internal
power at this time Columbia is now
running off its three onboard fuel cells
coming up before I go for autosequence
start
and we have a go for autosequence start
Colombia's a Colombia's onboard
computers have primary control of all
the vehicles critical functions t-minus
15 seconds
well
10987 we have a go for main engine start
two one and liftoff liftoff of the space
shuttle Columbia catapulting scientific
knowledge microgravity research Eastern
now controlling Columbia underway on its
18th trip to space going on course for a
172 mile high 39 degrees in orbit
clemmy's altitude 15,000 feet three
engines onboard Columbia are now falling
back to two-thirds throttle to prepare
the spacecraft to pass through the area
of maximum air pressure and go
supersonic Columbia's speed now at 800
miles per hour
altitude 34,000 feet three nautical
miles downrange from the launch pad let
me go at throttle up three main engines
on Columbia now back at full throttle
Columbia is now airborne for one and a
half minutes
it's burned almost two and a quarter
million pounds of propellant already
weighing less than half of what it did
at launch three my engines on Columbia
working well at full throttle good
hydraulic systems good electrical
systems altitude now 100,000 feet 14
miles downrange from the launch pad
Columbia traveling 2,800 miles per hour
flight controllers are standing by for
burnout in separation of the twin solid
rocket first stage of coming in just
about eight seconds
good solid rocket booster separation is
confirmed Clemmy now on its three main
engines second stage altitude 185
thousand feet 38 nautical miles
downrange from the launch pad plumpie of
traveling at 3,500 miles per hour
continuing a steep climb climbing a
performance nominal that call to the
spacecraft indicates that performance of
the first stage solid rockets was just
his plan and I Columbia can now perform
an emergency transatlantic landing at
Ben groom arauco if required all systems
continue to be go altitude two hundred
and fifty thousand feet down range from
Kennedy Space Center about 65 nautical
miles
thank sucks we'll let you know