Shuttle Heads for Space Station

By MARCIA DUNN, AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Loaded with supplies for the new international space station, Discovery lifted off Thursday on NASA's first shuttle flight in six months - the longest gap since the Challenger disaster.

``It has been a long time,'' launch director Ralph Roe said.   ``We're all just extremely happy to be launching again.''  The practically flawless, sunrise launch came after a string of six U.S. rocket failures since last summer.

The space station was soaring 235 miles over the Atlantic, east of the Carolinas, when Discovery blasted off in pursuit with a crew of seven. The mission is scheduled to last 10 days.  Discovery will catch up with the space station early Saturday.  Commander Kent Rominger and his U.S., Canadian and Russian crew will be the first astronauts to actually dock with the mostly empty outpost.

The last time astronauts visited the 16-nation space station, back in December, they had to connect the first two components.  This time, the construction work will be relatively light. Two astronauts will take a spacewalk this weekend to attach one crane and parts of another, as well as bags of tools, to the outside of the station.

The crew will spend the rest of the nearly six days of joint flight unloading 2 tons of spare parts, computers, clothes and other supplies for future station residents, and fixing broken or noisy equipment.

NASA was especially vigilant going into Thursday's launch, given the six-month gap between shuttle flights. The fleet was grounded for more than 2 years following the 1986 Challenger accident and grounded for almost six months in 1990 because of dangerous fuel leaks.

The latest hiatus had nothing to do with the shuttle, but rather a critical Russian space station component that has held up the entire project and a NASA X-ray telescope that has been grounded for a variety of reasons.

A hailstorm added to the delay. Hail battered the shuttle's giant fuel tank earlier this month, and NASA postponed the flight one week to fix the hundreds of dings. Speckled with patches, the tank dropped away, its job done, as Discovery slipped into orbit eight minutes after liftoff.

NASA worked hard to stay sharp after the last shuttle flight, Endeavour's Dec. 4 launch to the space station. Engineers conducted extra countdown practices and spent extra time reviewing procedures.

Since last August, two unmanned U.S. rockets have blown up, three others have left satellites in useless orbits, and another rocket dragged a satellite back down through the atmosphere, where it burned up.

The last time the U.S. rocket industry was so severely stricken was back in the mid-1980s, when the casualties included Challenger and its crew of seven.

NASA had nothing to do with the latest string of rocket failures. Even so, shuttle managers couldn't help but notice the anxiety surrounding Discovery's liftoff.

``It did not bother me, although I sensed in the surrounding community there was a heightened expectation, or a heightened awareness of the potential for failure,'' said Donald McMonagle, a launch manager. ``But I'm very happy to say we have intact a good vehicle.''

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