Columbus on Board by Jana Passova

The shuttle called Atlantis finally got into the orbit on Thursday after two months delay. A special European gift was for the international space station on the board. The gift is Columbus- science lab for 2 billion dollars. Atlantis with its crew of 7 people left their seaside launch pad at 2:45 p.m. The shuttle overcame problems that it had with fuel. Nobody could be happier than 300 people on the launch that had come to see how Columbus leaves the Earth. Tears of happiness could be seen there on some faces. The Europeans celebrated with grape juice and chocolate made in Belgium and France. It took 23 years to finish Columbus. The lab had to survive redesigns, slowdowns, or two shuttle accidents. The start wasn't threatened by tornadoes that went across the south part of the USA in the beginning of the week. Because of the bad weather start of the shuttle was in danger. At least tornadoes stayed far away from the place of start. At the launch time the sky was cloudy but weather was without rain or thunderstorms. In space Columbus will join the laboratory of the United States called Destiny. A very similar action is planned for the Japanese lab Hope in the beginning of March. It will not be so easy. Hope is much bigger and that's why it needs 3 shuttle flights to get off the Earth. NASA Administrator believes that no launch could be better remembered than the Columbus one. It is because Columbus will bring to the space station international capability and participation. On the board of the shuttle is a new space station resident, French Air Force Gen. Leopold Eyharts as well. He will replace an astronaut from NASA Daniel Tani, who will end a fourth-month mission and return to Earth.

by Jana Passova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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