Columbia to Give Florida One More Try

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —  Shuttle Columbia’s luckless crew, its frustration level one notch higher, was ordered to stay aloft one more day today when bad weather blocked a second Florida landing attempt, threatening to delay the ship’s next flight.

NASA mission managers decided that for its landing Saturday the shuttle should first go for a third attempt at a Florida touchdown to avoid a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., which could delay the ship’s scheduled takeoff March 6 on a voyage to study Halley’s comet.

The weather forecast for Columbia’s planned 4:31 a.m. PST landing in Florida called for more iffy weather, promising another cliffhanger for Columbia and its sevenmember crew.

Six-Day Delay

If the third try doesn’t work out the ship will be diverted to Edwards. Because of the time lost ferrying Columbia back to the cape, a California landing would represent a six-day delay getting the ship ready for its next flight.

But the National Aeronautics and Space Administration made it clear Columbia will fly in March, even if it is a few days late getting off.

“We are determined to have that March mission,” NASA acting administrator William Graham said on NBC’s “Today” show. “The best view of Halley’s comet comes just as it comes around the sun and goes outward.

“We hope to catch it as close to that time as possible,” he said. “But we’ll get good scientific data even if we have to go a few days beyond March 6.”

Last-Minute Decision

The down-to-the-wire decision to pass up today’s landing opportunity came just 18 minutes before commander Robert (Hoot) Gibson and co-pilot Charles Bolden were to have fired Columbia’s big braking rockets to begin the hourlong descent to Florida.

It was the first time in 24 flights a shuttle stayed in orbit two days past the planned landing date because of bad weather. The crew also set a record for six official blastoff delays before finally taking off Sunday.

NASA considered diverting the jinxed ship to Edwards early today but gambled on improving Florida weather, even though forecasters held out little hope for a favorable change.