Pulling free of Earth's gravity, and
leaving a trail of smoke behind, Space Shuttle Columbia roars toward
space 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 of
Columbia 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.