Shuttle Atlantis Set for Weekend Launch
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA on Monday cleared the space shuttle Atlantis for launch this weekend to pick up astronaut John Blaha from the Russian space station Mir.
Blaha has been living on Mir since September. He will be replaced by astronaut Jerry Linenger, who also will spend four months aboard the station. It will be the fifth time the shuttle has docked with Mir.
NASA will have no more than 10 minutes to launch Atlantis on Sunday, beginning around 4:27 a.m., to rendezvous with Mir.
Over the holidays, technicians tightened the screws in the gear boxes of Atlantis’ hatches. A loose screw jammed a hatch on Columbia in November, forcing cancellation of two spacewalks.
The hatches between Atlantis and Mir must open for Blaha and Linenger to swap places.
In addition, engineers concluded that Atlantis’ solid-fuel rocket boosters are safe to fly, despite damage to nozzle insulation on the last two shuttle flights.
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