CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A $2 billion symbol of American technological prowess, NASA's shuttle Endeavour stands poised on a Kennedy Space Center launch pad, a potential target for a terrorist attack.
But even in the wake of September 11, the seven astronauts and cosmonauts destined to launch aboard the ship say they'll be fearless flyers when Endeavour blasts off for the International Space Station later this month.
"We are totally confident," Endeavour mission commander Dominic Gorie told reporters here at Kennedy Space Center Thursday.
With launch set for Nov. 29, Gorie and his crewmates already have been briefed on extra security measures that have been put in place to protect the shuttle.
"I'm not able to talk about any specifics, but we are very, very pleased with everything that's been done for security here," he said. "We're extremely happy with all the hard work that's gone into making this site -- and the launch and landing of Endeavour -- a safe one."
In town this week for a practice countdown, four Endeavour astronauts are scheduled to ferry a fourth full-time crew to the international station and then return to Earth with the outpost's current tenants. And a heightened level of security already is apparent.
Military fighter jets flew over NASA's coastal Florida spaceport last week as Endeavour made a six-hour trip to launch pad 39B from KSC's 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building.An Apache gunship was in the air Tuesday when the Endeavour crew arrived at KSC for a launch-day dress rehearsal, and SWAT team members armed with assault rifles escorted the astronauts to a media photo opportunity Thursday.
A security zone off the coast of Cape Canaveral has been off limits to mariners since shortly after hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a rural area of Pennsylvania.
What's more, restricted air space was expanded around both KSC and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Thursday. And while officials won't comment on whether anti-aircraft artillery will be put in place, military jet fighters, helicopters and other aircraft are expected to be in the air on launch day.
"We can't talk specifically, but we are going to take all measures to protect ourselves, whether it be land, air or sea threats," said Maj. Mike Rein, a spokesman for the Air Force's 45th Space Wing, which is coordinating launch security in concert with KSC counterparts.
The Endeavour crew, meanwhile, will blast off with some very special cargo.
Some 6,000 small Americans flags are being flown as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks. The flags will be mounted on commemorative certificates and then distributed to the families of Sept. 11 victims after the shuttle's return to Earth.
Tattered American flags recovered from the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites will be hauled into space and back along with a flag from Pennsylvania.
The shields of all 23 New York City police officers lost at the Trade Center will be flown along with patches to pay tribute to the 343 firefighters killed at the site, and Gorie said the astronauts are anxious to honor Sept. 11 victims.
"I think anything that we can take that might commemorate the memory of those people who lost their lives is significant. And I can't think of another place where we could send items of significant emotional value were it means more to people," he said.
"I think it will be a significant sign to them that their loved ones were placed in a very, very significant -- and maybe the highest pinnacle -- of our thoughts and prayers and wishes. I think it would have to be a very powerful message to them and to the country of how significant an event we think that was on September 11."
Flying along with Gorie will be rookie shuttle pilot Mark Kelly, mission specialists Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani, and the so-called Expedition 4 crew: Russian cosmonaut Yuri Onufrienko and American flight engineers Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz.
Onufrienko, Bursch and Walz will remain on the station until next May.
Homebound on Endeavour will be the current station crew: outpost commander Frank Culbertson and his two cosmonaut colleagues -- Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin -- who have been in space since August 10.
Endeavour is scheduled to land here at KSC on Dec. 10.
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