CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's first female shuttle commander arrived today for the countdown to her launch as space buffs gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of man's first mission to land on the moon.
Air Force Col. Eileen Collins waved and smiled broadly as she brought her T-38 jet to a halt. She and her crew were greeted by NASA officials as well as a crowd of reporters."It's great to see such interest in our flight," the 42-year-old Collins said. "I've heard this said before many times, and it really means something to me now: This crew is ready to fly, and we are just so excited about taking up the Chandra X-ray Observatory."
By coincidence, the crew for shuttle Columbia arrived on the 30th anniversary of the day Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins blasted off for the moon. Liftoff is scheduled for Tuesday, the 30th anniversary of their historic landing. That's also a coincidence.
The five shuttle astronauts made no mention of the anniversary, being celebrated at Kennedy Space Center throughout the day. Instead, they talked a lot about the Chandra Observatory, stored aboard Columbia.
The $1.5 billion Chandra is the biggest and most powerful X-ray telescope ever built. Collins and her crew will drop the telescope into orbit seven hours after liftoff.
The telescope was supposed to be launched last summer but was delayed by a variety of problems, including concern over its attached motor, needed to boost it into the right orbit. NASA cleared the motor for flight just last week.
A similar motor malfunctioned in April on a military satellite and left it stranded in a useless orbit.
Columbia was the only space shuttle big enough to haul up Chandra, at 50,000 pounds NASA's largest payload ever.
"What most people say when they talk about Columbia, they talk about it being the oldest and the heaviest orbiter in the fleet," said Steven Hawley, 47, an astronaut for 21 years who will help deploy the telescope. "And I discovered as I get a little older and heavier myself, I kind of relate to that, so I feel good about our association with Columbia."
The countdown for Tuesday's 12:36 a.m. launch begins tonight.