spacetoday.net: STS-107 countdown begins

Posted: Mon, Jan 13, 2003, 1:46 PM ET (1846 GMT)
STS-107 patch (NASA)

NASA announced Monday that it has started the countdown for Thursday's launch of the shuttle Columbia on a dedicated science mission. The countdown for the launch of mission STS-107 began late Sunday night, with launch scheduled for between 10 am and 2 pm EST (1500 to 1900 GMT) Thursday; the exact launch time will be announced 24 hours before liftoff. Shuttle managers met Sunday to review the continued investigation of a cracked bearing in a liquid oxygen line discovered in the shuttle Discovery, and concluded that they have "enough confidence" to begin the countdown, with a final determination to be made at a launch minus two days meeting on Tuesday. There are no other technical concerns with the shuttle, and weather is forecast to be excellent, with only a five percent chance of unacceptable weather for Thursday's launch attempt. Weather conditions would degrade on Friday, with a 40 percent chance of poor weather; after Friday the shuttle would likely be delayed up to a week to permit the launch of a Titan 4B booster from Cape Canaveral on January 21. STS-107 is a 16-day free-flying science mission, potentially the last of its kind before all such science is performed on ISS. The seven-person crew includes Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.