HOUSTON — Astronauts
aboard the shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station (ISS) said
Saturday that a plan to shoot down an ailing spy satellite poses no threat to their
mission to install a European laboratory.
Shuttle
commander Stephen Frick and ISS commander Peggy Whitson said both of their
spacecraft will be safely out of harm's way when the U.S. Department of Defense
(DoD) launches a missile to destroy the falling
satellite just before it enters the Earth's atmosphere.
"We're
going to be safely on the ground before they take any action and the satellite is
going to be well below the space station, so we don't expect any problems,"
Frick told reporters via a space-to-ground video link.
Pentagon
officials said Thursday that they will wait until after Atlantis' Feb. 20
landing before shooting the classified satellite down with a U.S Navy missile. NASA
mission managers will also call
up a backup runway to give Atlantis more landing attempts Wednesday.
The
massive, bus-sized satellite is loaded with toxic fuel that poses a hazard to people
on Earth should it survive reentry, they said. But debris from the space shot
should circle the Earth much lower than the station's 215-mile (346-km) orbit,
NASA and military officials have said.
"I think
NASA and the DoD loves the station crew as much as they love the shuttle," joked
station commander Peggy Whitson. "So, no we're not worried about it either."
Smooth
construction
Frick and
his six STS-122 crewmates are in the homestretch of a
13-day mission to deliver the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus
laboratory and a new crewmate to the ISS. The shuttle crew is due to undock
from the space station early Monday.
"It looks
like it's going very well," said ESA astronaut Leopold Eyharts, of France, who
replaced U.S. astronaut Dan Tani aboard the ISS during the flight.
Tani hoped
to return to Earth last December, but delays to Atlantis' current flight
prolonged his orbital stay by two months.
"It's going
to be tough leaving here, but obviously I want to get back and see my family,"
Tani said, adding that he also looks forward to eating food off a plate and
spitting his toothpaste into a sink rather than swallowing it. "I'm looking
forward a few odd things."
Atlantis'
first time spaceflyers — mission specialists Leland Melvin, Stanley Love and shuttle
pilot Alan Poindexter — said they have enjoyed their first taste of space.
Poindexter and
Melvin said they've enjoyed floating in space and working alongside their comrades,
while Love has taken in a new perspective of his home planet during his two
spacewalks.
"As an astronomer,
you get used to planets as sort of abstraction," said Love, a trained physicist
and astronomer, adding that looking down on Earth has redefined the planet. "It's
just an awe-inspiring experience. You have no idea what the word 'planet'
really means until you've seen that."
NASA is
broadcasting Atlantis' STS-122 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's
shuttle mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
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