NASA Opens Roads For Wednesday's Launch Closed Since 2001

NASA's long-held plan for return to flight probably won't be delayed by Hurricane Dennis, but certainly won't be put off track by terrorists, agency officials indicated Friday.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Michael Braukus of NASA HQ public affairs in DC said, "...we're just back to more or less ... normal operations" with respect to security around the expected media presence, and other prelaunch security precautions. He indicated that the British bomb attacks of July 7th would not influence NASA's security plans.

After September 11, 2001, NASA tightened access to the Kennedy Space Center, closing many access roads once used by launch tourists and disappointing those who flocked to northeastern Florida for the spectacular launches.

The ill-fated Columbia mission of January 2003 was under even more unprecedented security, partly because an Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, was a member of the crew. For example, NASA kept the launch time secret until within a day of launch, and even media photographers were kept at a very great distance from the launch pad.

Ramon and his American crewmates perished in February, 2003, not through an act of terrorism, but because overlooked damage to the orbiter's insulating tiles allowed superheated gases to weaken the orbiter structure to the point of failure. The shuttle system has been grounded ever since, disrupting the International Space Station and many other planned space missions, while NASA went through a familiar cycle of investigation, recrimination, and modification, which has repeated itself at intervals since the 1967 Apollo 1 fire.

This year's launch sees NASA viewing the terrorist threat in proportion. "Whatever restrictions we had in place post-9/11 have been eased," Braukus told the Post.

In contrast to the last launch of Columbia in 2003, Wednesday's Discovery blast-off is on a schedule announced far in advance: 1551 EDT. (Nine minutes to four, for you Air Force vets. For you Marines, the big hand is on the 51...) and, in a decision sure to be welcomed by spectators, many of the roads closed for post-2001 launches will be open this time.

There will still be low-key measures in place, including military security support, and metal detectors at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

NASA has provided some suggestions for good launch and landing viewing at this web page.

Veteran shuttle commander Eileen Collins, who will manually fly the challenging Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver while the orbiter is in close proximity to the ISS, commands the crew of STS-0114. The pilot is another veteran, Jim Kelly. Mission specialists Charlie Camarda, Wendy Lawrence, Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson, and Andy Thomas round out the crew; all are vets of multiple shuttle flights except for first-timers Camarda and Noguchi (a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut). The original plan for using 114 to transfer ISS crews was cancelled after the loss of Columbia; instead, Discovery will dock with the ISS to transfer cargo, to take off trash, and to allow inspection of the orbiter structure.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/, www.nasa.gov/returntoflight