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Roswell Daily Record
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Storms, lightning threaten final shuttle launch CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Rain in the forecast threatened to delay the last space shuttle launch, set for Friday, and a lightning strike near the pad briefly caused a flurry of concern at NASA before engineers concluded the spaceship was OK. The lightning bolt hit a water tower about 500 feet from the launch pad at midday Thursday, the space agency said. Technicians hurried out to check for electrical problems, but a review board ruled out any damage. Over the years, lightning has struck on or near the launch pad occasionally, delaying a few launches but causing no damage. The forecast for Friday, meanwhile, looked dismal, with only a 30 chance of acceptable weather at launch time, 11:26 a.m. NASA test director Jeff Spaulding pointed out that space shuttles have managed to launch with worse forecasts. “There’s some opportunity there,” he said Thursday as the rain set in. “It’s a really tough day if you
make a decision not to go and it turns out to be good weather.” NASA is closing out its 30-year space shuttle program to take aim at asteroids and Mars, destinations favored by the White House. Private companies will take over the job of hauling cargo and crews to the International Space Station, freeing NASA up to focus on points beyond. “We believe that on behalf of the American people, it is time for NASA to do the hard things to go beyond low-Earth orbit,” NASA’s deputy administrator, Lori Garver, told reporters gathering for the launch. The odds of good flying weather improve with each passing day, said shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters. The launch time moves slightly earlier every day, and that helps, she said. NASA has until Sunday, possibly Monday, to get Atlantis and its four astronauts in orbit. Otherwise, the spacecraft will remain grounded until the following weekend because of an
Air Force rocket launch that takes priority. Rain or shine, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to jam the area for the launch. Some estimates put the crowd at close to 1 million. Dozens of astronauts already are in town, including the very first shuttle pilot Robert Crippen, who opened the era aboard Columbia in 1981. “It’s a sad time for me obviously. But it’s also a time when I feel pride. I’m proud of what the shuttle has done,” Crippen told The Associated Press. “You’ve got to get it back down on the ground safely. So when we finally get ‘wheels stop,’ it will be an emotional moment for me.” The commander of that original shuttle shot, moonwalker John Young, opted to stay home in Houston. He didn’t want to deal with all the fuss, Crippen explained. “It’s not his kind of thing,” he said. “He’ll watch it on TV,” he said. Along one of the main leading into roads
Friday, July 8, 2011
Kennedy Space Center, businesses and even churches joined in the celebration with billboards pronouncing “God Bless Atlantis July 8” and “Godspeed Atlantis and Crew.” The countdown, at least, was going well, with only a few minor technical problems at the pad reported. Atlantis is bound for the International Space Station with a year’s worth of provisions. NASA wants the orbiting outpost wellstocked in case there are delays in getting commercial cargo hauls started. The first privately operated supply run — by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — is tentatively scheduled for late this year. NASA payload manager Joe Delai got emotional as he showed pictures of the 21-foot-long, shiny metal cargo carrier in Atlantis’ payload bay. That massive bay is the one thing that none of the smaller followon craft will have. “This is just beautiful ... It’s not a piece of metal. It’s a way of life,” he said. “We’re just inches into
AP Photo
Space shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center, Thursday. Atlantis is scheduled to launch today on the final space shuttle mission.
what we know, and everything we do now is what I consider the foundation for human spaceflight. “Yeah, it’s emotional, but it’s also part of history. I think that’s what you’re seeing from a lot of folks down here.” Also aboard Atlantis: multiple sets of patches and pins representing all 135 shuttle missions, as well as thousands of shuttle bookmarks for children. The patches and pins will be presented to schools following the flight, Delai said.
The 12-day voyage by Atlantis should culminate with a touchdown back at Kennedy on July 20, the 42nd anniversary of man’s first steps on the moon. “There’s an old saying that says it’s better to travel well than to arrive,” Spaulding said. “And I’d have to say after the last 30 years, certainly our program and these shuttles, throughout all of their missions, have traveled very well. And after 135’s landing, I think we can say at that point that we’ve arrived.”
Park rangers: Bear in mauling only protecting cubs
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A grizzly bear that mauled a 57-year -old hiker to death in Yellowstone National Park was only defending its cubs and had not threatened humans before. So park officials on Thursday decided to leave it alone to wander the backcountry. The mauling — the park’s first in 25 years — temporarily closed one of Yellowstone’s top attractions on one of the busiest days of the year, leaving some tourists to wonder what was going on. “It was not predatory and so we see no reason to take action against the bear,” said Kerry Gunther, bear management biologist for Yellowstone. The attack also highlighted the potential dangers, however rare, that face tourists who come in record numbers each year to a park known for its burgeoning bear population and the Old Faithful geyser. Whenever there is a runin or attack involving bears, park officials must decide whether the attack was defensive or an act of aggression. In Wednesday’s incident, they based their conclusion on the account of the hiker’s wife, who survived, as well as their knowledge of bear behavior. Brian and Marylyn Matayoshi, of Torrance, Calif., were hiking in a backcountry meadow along a trail a mile and a half from the trailhead when they spotted the bear foraging about 100 yards away. The couple immediately turned and began walking
encounter. Park of ficials said the attack shouldn’t condition the sow to attack again. They also collected DNA samples from fur at the attack site, so they can deter mine if the bear is involved in another attack, Gunther said. Decades of research has established that grizzlies, while dangerous, rarely get aggressive with people except under very predictable circumstances, said Mark Bruscino, a Wyoming state bear biologist who has investigated some 40 attacks. Grizzlies become aggressive when they are harassed, taken by surprise up close, are defend-
AP Photo
The bridge to the southern rim ofthe Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is closed, Thursday. Park officials closed this area after a grizzly sow killed a man who was hiking with his wife a mile and a half up the trail the day before.
away, officials said. The grizzly charged and attacked Brian Matayoshi, then went for his wife, who ran for cover behind a tree. The grizzly lifted her off the ground by the day pack she was wearing and then dropped her. She tried to call 911 on her cell phone, but couldn’t get a signal. Other hikers in the area responded to her cries for help and managed to get through to emergency officials. Marylyn Matayoshi told rescuers that the couple surprised the sow, its cubs nearby — one of the most dangerous situations possible for humans encounter-
ing grizzlies. Park officials believe the grizzly had two six-month-old cubs, based on previous sightings in the area and cub tracks where the attack occurred. “All indications are that this was a defensive attack,” park spokesman Al Nash said. “In such cases, the park’s policy is to leave the bear in the backcountry.” The bear had never been documented before, never
ing a food source or are defending their cubs, Bruscino said. Wednesday’s mauling was the park’s first fatal grizzly attack since 1986, but the third in the region in just over a year amid ever -growing numbers of grizzlies and tourists roaming the same wild landscape. Grizzlies are an omnivorous species with a diet of berries, elk, fish, moths, ants and even pine nuts. Officials routinely urge visitors to take precautions: Stay on designated trails, carry bear spray, hike in groups of three or more, and make noise in places where a grizzly could be lurking.
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been tagged, and there was no reason to believe it had interacted with humans before, Nash said. They said the way the attack happened indicated the bear didn’t intend to eat the couple. Marylyn Matayoshi escaped injury and was no longer at the park, and officials declined to reveal her whereabouts. Park officials called the mauling a “1-in-3-million”
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