STS-107 MCC Status Report #01<br />Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 - 10 a.m. CST<br />Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas<br /><br />Columbia lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center this morning on the first<br />shuttle mission of the year, carrying the first Israeli astronaut into orbit<br />along with six crewmates on a marathon international scientific research<br />flight.<br /><br />Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Mission Specialists Dave Brown,<br />Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark, Payload Commander Mike Anderson and Payload<br />Specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israel Space Agency blasted off at 9:39 a.m.<br />CST from Launch Pad 39-A. Less than nine minutes later, Columbia settled<br />into an orbit inclined 39 degrees to the equator.<br /><br />The seven astronauts will divide their duties into two teams working 12-hour<br />shifts to conduct round-the-clock science. Aboard Columbia more than 80<br />experiments dealing with astronaut health and safety, advanced tehnology<br />development and Earth and space sciences.<br /><br />Husband, Chawla, Clark and Ramon comprise the Red team which will work in<br />the pre-dawn and daytime hours, while McCool, Brown and Anderson make up the<br />Blue team, working the evening and overnight hours.<br /><br />Once in orbit, the crewmembers will begin to unstow gear and prepared for<br />the opening of Columbia's payload bay doors, before activating hardware and<br />experiments in a double Spacehab research module housed in the shuttle's<br />cargo bay, which contains the lion's share of the mission's science. Other<br />experiments housed in the cargo bay also will be activated, along with a<br />special pallet of cryogenic fuel tanks at the rear of the cargo bay which<br />will provide Columbia and its experiments sufficient electrical power for<br />the duration of the flight.<br /><br />Having shifted their sleep schedule to accommodate the dual-shift<br />operations, McCool, Brown and Anderson will begin an abbreviated six-hour<br />sleep period at 1:39 p.m. CST and will be awakened at 7:39 p.m. while Red<br />team counterparts continue the early stages of experiment activation.<br />Husband, Chawla, Clark and Ramon will begin an eight-hour sleep period at<br />8:39 p.m. and will be awakened Friday at 4:39 a.m. to handover work from the<br />Blue team which will be continuing the initial phase of scientific studies<br />overnight.<br /><br />As Columbia was launched, the Expedition 6 crew aboard the International<br />Space Station was orbiting over the northern Pacific Ocean south of the<br />Aleutian island chain. Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai<br />Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit are in their 54th day in<br />space, their 52nd day on board the station.<br /><br />The next STS-107 mission status report will be issued this evening, or<br />earlier if events warrant.<br /><br />--end--