International Shuttle Crew Soars Into Orbit

The stormy skies of central Florida gave up without a fight today, allowing the space shuttle Discovery to blast off on a mission that could lead to better communications for some of the world’s more impoverished areas.

“We’re trucking along,” the crew told Mission Control in Houston 90 minutes after the Discovery reached its orbit 220 miles above the earth.

The flight, carrying a French astronaut and a Saudi Arabian prince, is scheduled to deploy three communications satellites during the seven-day mission. The seven members of the crew also will help carry out a Defense Department experiment on the use of lasers to track objects in space and to search the galaxy for the “black hole” believed to be at its center.

Mexico’s Satellite

Shortly after the Discovery settled into orbit, the five National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts checked out Mexico’s first communications satellite and pronounced it ready for launch from the cargo bay. It will provide television to the most remote parts of the country.

Hundreds of dignitaries from around the world were on hand to watch the launch, including 29 Arabian princes and one sheik, who saw Prince Sultan ibn Salman al Saud, 28, become the first Arabian in space and the youngest person to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft.

The prince and French astronaut Patrick Baudry, 39, are aboard the Discovery to give the U.S. space program more of an international flavor, partly by carrying representatives of countries and corporations that do business with NASA.

More Storms Feared

In the hours preceding the launch it appeared that storms that have dumped four inches of rain on central Florida in the last few days would keep Discovery on the pad. Lightning struck all around the spacecraft late Sunday evening but apparently did not hit either the shuttle or its support equipment, according to Robert Sieck, launch director at Kennedy.

But there was not a sign of that this morning, permitting “one of the smoothest (launches) we’ve had in quite some time,” said Cleon Lacefield of Mission Control. Liftoff was on schedule at 4:33 a.m. PDT.

“Just great!” Saud exclaimed. “The view is fantastic from here and we wish you were with us.”

The astronauts plan to launch a satellite Tuesday to link 22 Arab nations belonging to the Arab Satellite Communications Organization. On Wednesday, the fliers will deploy the third of AT&T;’s Telstar satellites.