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 Still's First Mission |
 
Still set to return to space July 1
Web posted June 28, 1997
By Amy Joyner
And apparently, they'll do it on time.
Unless there's bad weather, the astronaut crew from mission STS-83 will return to space together July 1 to complete work they began in April. Their second mission has been dubbed STS-94, and Lt. Cmdr. Still, again, is the pilot.
Managers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration met for nearly seven hours Thursday before deciding to stick with the original launch date for the reflight of the microgravity space lab.
The shuttle Columbia is set to blast off 2:37 p.m. The crew is scheduled to return to Earth at 7:13 a.m. July 17.
It will be the first time in the 36 years of human spaceflight that an entire crew has flown together twice.
Lt. Cmdr. Still first piloted the space shuttle in April, but the crew was forced to return home 12 days early because of a defective power generator.
During their second flight, the astronauts will complete the science experiments they had to abandon on their last mission. These experiments are precursors to the work that will be done on the planned International Space Station.
About two weeks ago, engineers discovered some cracked heat-shielding tiles on Columbia and feared the repairs couldn't be made in time for the quick relaunch.
The shuttle was moved to the launch pad anyway and by Wednesday with all 36 cracked tiles repaired.
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