Sixth Attempt Launches Atlantis on Secret Mission

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. —  The space shuttle Atlantis, after five thwarted attempts at liftoff, roared into Florida’s gusty but starlit skies at 2:50 a.m. PST.

The dramatic night launch was only the fourth time the shuttle has thundered from its pad into darkness since the program began in 1981.

Experts believe that Atlantis carried aloft a secret U.S. spy satellite, although the Pentagon, which chartered the mission, will not comment on the shuttle’s cargo.

A relieved Lisa Malone, commentator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, hailed Atlantis’ rise as the nation’s 34th shuttle mission cut a fiery path into space.

The launch, which squeaked between two bands of rain showers passing over the cape, came after an astronaut’s cold, foul weather and a dramatic last-minute computer failure delayed the launch five separate times.

After four previous postponements, low clouds and winds over the launch-pad area Monday morning prompted NASA officials to delay the liftoff 48 hours to let Atlantis’ astronauts and launch crews rest.

Not since January, 1986, has a space shuttle suffered so many delays before flight. During that month, the launch of the Challenger was delayed six times by weather and technical problems before it finally rocketed into space. It exploded 73 seconds into its flight.

By the time NASA scrubbed the launch of Atlantis for the fifth time, the cost of delays had reached more than $1.8 million at the Kennedy Space Center alone.

Coming at a time of shrinking military budgets, the delays have provided a costly reminder that when men, not machines, put satellites into orbit, unpredictable health and safety factors can add to the launch uncertainties.

The flight of Atlantis, the sixth shuttle mission entirely dedicated to a Defense Department mission, is manned by a crew of five military astronauts.

John O. Creighton, a Navy captain, is commanding the flight of STS-36. Creighton’s scratchy throat and congestion prompted NASA to call off two earlier launch attempts. The other astronauts are Air Force Col. John H. Casper, the pilot, and mission specialists Marine Lt. Col. David C. Hilmers, Air Force Col. Richard M. Mullane and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Pierre J. Thuot.

Once in space, the shuttle is expected to put a spy satellite into orbit. The Defense Department has shrouded Atlantis’ payload in secrecy, but experts said that the shuttle is carrying a $500-million satellite designed to photograph and relay images of military and other installations.