Subj: IUFO: ATLANTIS ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR SPACEWALK
Date: 9/11/00 4:53:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time


ATLANTIS ASTRONAUTS PREPARE FOR SPACEWALK

After a flawless docking between space shuttle Atlantis and the
International Space Station, Sunday, a U.S. astronaut and a
Russian cosmonaut spent the day preparing for an extended
spacewalk. Atlantis performed a perfect rendezvous maneuver
Sunday despite a failure of a navigational device called a star
tracker. The problem was quickly solved, however, when the
astronauts turned the shuttle 90 degrees so that a second star
tracker could target the station; the docking occurred as the two
craft passed 200 miles over western Kazakstan at a speed of
17,500 mph. Edward Lu and Yuri Malenchenko are scheduled to begin
their excursion outside the space station early Monday, but
officials at Mission Control said it was possible the mission
could begin earlier. Their main task will be turning the Russian
Zvezda module into an integral part of the station. The 24-ton
piece, which docked with the space station in late July, is
outfitted with solar panels and a propulsion system that the
station needs to remain in orbit. The spacewalk by Lu and
Malenchenko will be the 50th in the space shuttle program.
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