Discovery mission has ties to Springs bases, colleges

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 13, 2005 | by PAM ZUBECK THE GAZETTE

NASA's Discovery shuttle mission, scheduled to launch today, has several Colorado Springs links, including its crew members and the agencies that will monitor the takeoff, flight and landing.

Eileen Collins, the shuttle's commander, earned a master's degree in space systems management from Webster University's Colorado Springs campus in 1989.

She taught math and was a T-41 instructor pilot at the Air Force Academy from September 1986 through June 1989.

She was the first female pilot of a shuttle on the first flight of the joint Russian-American Shuttle-Mir program and was the first woman to pilot a shuttle mission, in 1995.

Pilot James Kelly earned a bachelor's degree in astronautical engineering from the academy in 1986. In 2001, he piloted the eighth shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station aboard the Discovery, the same ship due to launch today.

Watching the shuttle every inch of its way is the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, based at Peterson Air Force Base.

NorthCom's duties include developing plans to locate and retrieve the astronauts in case of an accident. The command also will coordinate Department of Defense efforts to assist the astronauts in the event of an emergency.

Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircraft and Navy and Coast Guard ships are positioned or on standby to conduct search- and-rescue operations, Michael Perini, NORAD/NorthCom public affairs chief, said in a statement.

Military bases around the world will provide support for the mission, including alternative landing sites and resources to respond to an emergency landing.

NORAD's role is to keep the skies safe for the Discovery, using irregular air patrols to enforce federal temporary restricted flight zones and provide defense if needed, Perini said.

Air Force Space Command, also based at Peterson, provided radar range requirements as recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board after the shuttle accident of Feb. 1, 2003, that killed all seven astronauts.

Working with NASA, the 1st Space Control Squadron developed procedures to monitor the shuttle to obtain imagery that allows officials to examine the shuttle for potential damage similar to the Columbia's and to better assess chances of colliding with objects in space.