WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Billows of white clouds of steam and
smoke frame Space Shuttle Columbia as it rises above the launch tower
on Launch Pad 39A on mission STS-107. Following a flawless and
uneventful countdown, liftoff occurred on-time at 10:39 a.m. EST. The
16-day research mission will include FREESTAR (Fast Reaction
Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research)
and the SHI Research Double Module (SHI/RDM), known as
SPACEHAB. Experiments on the module range from material sciences to
life sciences. Landing is scheduled at about 8:53 a.m. EST on
Saturday, Feb. 1. This mission is the first Shuttle mission of
2003. Mission STS-107 is the 28th flight of the orbiter Columbia and
the 113th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle program.