7 Astronauts, 2 Monkeys, 24 Rats in Orbit

The space shuttle Challenger, carrying seven astronauts, two monkeys and two dozen rats, thundered from its launch pad today into a 219-mile-high Earth orbit.

The Challenger, which has a billion-dollar payload, encountered some early problems. Its liftoff was delayed two minutes to 9:02 a.m. PDT by a malfunction of the system that controls the flow of liquid oxygen to the spacecraft. Space center officials immediately went to a backup system and the countdown continued after the brief delay.

Flight Commander Robert F. Overmyer also reported that one of three hydraulic generators used to control wing flaps, landing gears and rocket nozzles had overheated in the early minutes of the flight.

Generator Shut Down

Officials at the Johnson Space Center in Houston ordered the generator shut down.

Overmyer said there were large amounts of water outside his left window as the Challenger moved toward orbit. Officials at the Kennedy Space Center speculated it was condensation on the fuel tank, possibly caused by the extremely humid day.

Overmyer also reported that “we’ve got something on the back of the starboard (rocket) pod that looks kind of strange.” After looking at television views of the pod, engineers in mission control speculated the material could be the underside of a thermal insulation blanket that tore away slightly during launch, which has happened before.

Laboratory Activated

But those were only minor problems, and two hours and 10 minutes after the shuttle lifted off, the astronauts activated the billion-dollar science laboratory, called Spacelab, developed by the European Space Agency.

“A consensus up here is that it was a great ride and we highly recommend it,” said Overmyer.

Challenger, making its seventh space flight--a record--blasted off just 17 days after Discovery took off from the same Kennedy Space Center launch pad, representing a record “turnaround” and an anticipated return to an ambitious flight-a-month schedule.

The shuttle is due to return to Edwards Air Force Base in California on May 6.