The Nation - News from Oct. 10, 1989

The countdown for this week’s planned launch of space shuttle Atlantis began as NASA headed for a court showdown with anti-nuclear activists seeking to stop the flight because of its plutonium-powered payload. If a federal judge approves, Atlantis is to blast off Thursday with five astronauts who are to dispatch the Galileo spacecraft with its nuclear generators on the start of a six-year journey to Jupiter. A band of 25 protesters demonstrated at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, played out a mock death scene, and vowed that if they lose in court, they will sit on the launch pad if necessary to halt the launch. Attorneys for the space agency and three citizens’ groups are to present oral arguments today before U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch in Washington. Atlantis’ crew, meanwhile, flew from Houston to the space center.