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ATLANTIS HEADS FOR SPACE... At 11:45 AM, Pacific Standard Time today, the space shuttle Atlantis rocketed away from Florida’s east coast on a journey towards the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis will dock with the orbital outpost this Saturday, February 9. A day later, astronauts will install the European Space Agency’s Columbus science module to the ISS, where it will stay for the remainder of the station’s life. Columbus is expected to stay in operation for at least 10 years.

Moments before liftoff, CNN reporter Miles O’Brien made an interesting analogy about Atlantis’ launch in his SciTechBlog. He compares the shuttle’s launch to throwing a football:

"If only they could launch now, they (Atlantis’ astronauts) would be on their way. Problem is – the shuttle does not have enough gas to make it to the space station unless it leaves the pad when the station is overhead.

It is kind of like a quarterback throwing a pass to his receiver. If he doesn’t toss the football at just the right moment – the pass will be incomplete – or intercepted.

Think of the shuttle as the football, the station is the receiver, and the launch control team as the quarterback."

Interesting stuff. Atlantis will return to Earth on February 18.


NASA / Sandra Joseph, Tony Gray, Robert Murray