KENNEDY SPACE CENTER <br />SHUTTLE & PAYLOAD PROCESSING STATUS REPORT <br />Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 (1 p.m.)<br /><br /><br />For the latest Shuttle status on the web visit<br /><http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/stsstat/current.htm>. <br />For the latest weather forecast visit<br /><http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/weatstat/forecast.htm>. <br />Visit <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/schedule/schedule.htm> for the<br />latest schedule of future Shuttle missions. KSC press releases can be found<br />at <http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/release.htm>. <br />The KSC home page can be found at <http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/>. <br /><br /><br />MISSION STS-107 -SPACEHAB/ FREESTAR MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH MISSION<br /><br /><br />VEHICLE - Columbia/OV-102<br />OFFICIAL LAUNCH DATE: Jan. 16, 2003<br />OFFICIAL LAUNCH TIME: 10:39 a.m. EST<br />TARGET LANDING DATE: Feb. 1, 2003 at 8:53 a.m. EST<br />MISSION DURATION: 16 days<br />CREW: Husband, McCool, Anderson, Chawla, Brown, Clark, Ramon<br />ORBITAL INSERTION ALTITUDE AND INCLINATION: 150 nautical miles/39 degrees<br /><br /><br />Shuttle Processing Note: On its first launch attempt, Shuttle Columbia with<br />its seven-member crew lifted off at 10:39 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 39-A<br />to begin its 16-day SPACEHAB microgravity research mission. The launch team<br />worked no significant technical issues during the flawless countdown. <br />This mission is the first of 2003 and the first dedicated research mission<br />to be flown by the Shuttle program in nearly three years. Mission STS-107 is<br />the 28th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the 113th flight overall in<br />NASA's Space Shuttle program. <br /><br /><br />Columbia is carrying in its payload bay the SPACEHAB Research Double Module,<br />a pressurized environment accessible to the crew. The module and the<br />Shuttle's middeck will hold most of the mission's more than 80 experiments -<br />involving more than 70 scientists worldwide - that will investigate space,<br />life and physical sciences.<br />Solid Rocket Booster retrieval ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star are<br />positioned in the recovery area about 140 miles east of Cape Canaveral ready<br />to pick up the two spent booster casings. The ships are scheduled to return<br />to Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than Saturday,<br />Jan. 18. <br /><br /><br />-- end --