STS-105 Status Report #1 – 10 Aug 2001 – 4:30 PM CDT

After a one-day

delay because of weather, Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off this afternoon,

carrying a crew of four and three new residents to the International

Space Station.

As the station

sailed over the Pacific Ocean southwest of the border between Mexico

and Guatemala, Discovery rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-A at the Kennedy

Space Center at 4:10 p.m. Central time en route to a rendezvous and

docking Sunday afternoon.

Aboard Discovery

were Commander Scott Horowitz, Pilot Rick Sturckow and Mission Specialists

Pat Forrester and Dan Barry along with Expedition Three Commander Frank

Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin.

They will replace the Expedition Two crew, Commander Yury Usachev and

Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms, who were wrapping up their

155th day in space at the time of Discoveryís launch.

Less than nine

minutes after beginning its journey, Discovery settled into its preliminary

orbit as the crew prepared to open the shipís payload bay doors

prior to receiving the green light to begin orbital operations. This

is the fifth shuttle mission of the year.

Discoveryís

crew will spend the next few hours unpacking equipment, setting up computers

and conducting the first in a series of engine firings to refine the

shuttleís orbit as it heads for the station. The crew will begin

an eight-hour sleep period shortly after 11 p.m. and will be awakened

at 7:15 a.m. Saturday for its first full day in orbit. That day will

be devoted to preparations for Sundayís rendezvous and docking

and eight days of joint operations with the Expedition Two crew, highlighted

by the official transfer of command of the station from Usachev to Culbertson.

Aboard the station,

Usachev, Voss and Helms have spent most of the past couple of weeks

packing gear for the trip home aboard Discovery, and tidying up for

the arrival of visitors about 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Discovery is in

an orbit inclined 51.6 degrees to either side of the Equator with all

of its systems operating normally.

The next STS-105

mission status report will be issued Saturday morning after Discoveryís

crew is awakened.