Chris Cantell Discusses Science: Columbus On a Way To The ISS. by Milota Sidorova

After two months delay, the space shuttle Atlantis launches Thursday, carrying European Space Agency ' s Laboratory called Columbus to the International Space Station.More than $1.6 billion Columbus, the result of two decade' s work of more than 300 European scientists will integrate as a new long-term project on the station, running on the American projects and Russian Mir 2. Atlantis will take off from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, despite of bad weather forecast, offering just 40 percents for appropriate weather conditions. "We're all thinking that Thursday's the day regardless of what the weather guy might tell you," Doug Lyons, the launch director said. According the initial plan, December take off was canceled by problems with erratic fuel gauges in the shuttle's external tank. A new problem with a bent hose appeared last week. After a reconstruction, Atlantis is prepared to launch, even with a suspicion that the breaks can appear at the end of the flight. Engineers believe, that the astronauts will be able to solve that situation by that time. Daniele Laurini, the European Space Agency's liaison with the Johnson Space Center in Houston declared that, they all had been through difficult times, but they had overcome them together.Two European astronauts will fly with Atlantis five-member crew to help fix Columbus on ISS. One of them will remain to conduct further experiments. The Lab focuses on engineering and science research, but in the opinion of Joanne Gabrynowicz, director of the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air, and Space Law at the University of Mississippi, the presence of Columbus on ISS represent a test bed for law and policy.The ISS is an experiment of international space partnerships. Just few weeks after Columbus reaches the station, Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module is planned to attach the international board.The projected completion date is 2010, with the station remaining in operation until around 2016.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080205/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle;_ylt=AlSukNl0nVFijX1CBUnqdEas0NUE

by Milota Sidorova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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Edited by: Katarina Bosanska