Space Shuttle Processing Status 16 Jan 2003

MISSION STS-107 -SPACEHAB/ FREESTAR MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH MISSION

• VEHICLE – Columbia/OV-102
• OFFICIAL LAUNCH DATE: Jan. 16, 2003
• OFFICIAL LAUNCH TIME: 10:39 a.m. EST
• TARGET LANDING DATE: Feb. 1, 2003 at 8:53 a.m. EST
• MISSION DURATION: 16 days
• CREW: Husband, McCool, Anderson, Chawla, Brown, Clark, Ramon
• ORBITAL INSERTION ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION: 150 nautical miles/39 degrees

Shuttle Processing Note: On its first launch attempt, Shuttle Columbia with
its seven-member crew lifted off at 10:39 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 39-A
to begin its 16-day SPACEHAB microgravity research mission. The launch team
worked no significant technical issues during the flawless countdown.
This mission is the first of 2003 and the first dedicated research mission
to be flown by the Shuttle program in nearly three years. Mission STS-107 is
the 28th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the 113th flight overall in
NASA’s Space Shuttle program.

Columbia is carrying in its payload bay the SPACEHAB Research Double Module,
a pressurized environment accessible to the crew. The module and the
Shuttle’s middeck will hold most of the mission’s more than 80 experiments –
involving more than 70 scientists worldwide – that will investigate space,
life and physical sciences.
Solid Rocket Booster retrieval ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star are
positioned in the recovery area about 140 miles east of Cape Canaveral ready
to pick up the two spent booster casings. The ships are scheduled to return
to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than Saturday,
Jan. 18.