News - Unknown object seen flying below Atlantis

Unknown object seen flying below Atlantis

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4197753.html

By MARK CARREAU
Houston Chronicle

NASA today attempted to identify a dark object flying below the shuttle
Atlantis as the crew made preparations to end its 11-day mission to the
international space station.

The mysterious object, which appeared much smaller than the shuttle,
was spotted by an alert flight controller about 1:45 a.m. CDT, as he
monitored a video camera in Atlantis's payload bay.

The object might have come from the shuttle, possibly drifting out of
the shuttle's payload bay or from elsewhere on the ship, said NASA
spokesman Doug Peterson.

The object was spotted about 15 minutes after Atlantis commander Brent
Jett and pilot Chris Ferguson had conducted a test of the shuttle's 44
steering jets. The jets were tested as part of routine preparations to
bring Atlantis back to Earth on Wednesday.

Mission Control notified the astronauts of the observation at 9 a.m.
CDT, and asked them to delay plans to stow a video antenna.

Peterson said the request would allow the astronauts to make an
unscheduled examination of the shuttle using cameras on Atlantis' robot
arm. The antenna would transmit the views to Mission Control.

However, it was not clear whether the survey could take place later
today or Wednesday.

If the survey was scheduled for Wednesday, NASA would postpone the
shuttle's planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

There were two opportunities to touch down at the Florida shuttleport
-- 4:58 a.m. CDT and 6:33 a.m. CDT.

Forecasters warned of thunderstorms, low clouds and high winds
associated with the passage of a cool front.

"The weather outlook is not as promising as I would like," said Steve
Stich, the NASA flight director who will supervise the landing
operations from Mission Control.

Atlantis was equipped with enough supplies to keep the six astronaut in
Earth orbit through Saturday.

Stich said Mission Control would consider making Edward Air Force Base,
Calif., available to the shuttle crew if they faced a delay on
Wednesday.

The shuttle flight marks the first assembly mission to the space
station in nearly four years. The construction was halted in the
aftermath of the 2003 February Columbia accident.

.

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