Off to Perfect Start, Discovery Deploys Satellite

The space shuttle Discovery blasted off perfectly Monday with a crew from three nations on a mission that could lead to better communications for some of the world’s more impoverished areas.

“Just great,” exclaimed Saudi Arabian Prince Sultan ibn Salman al Saud, one of seven members of the crew. “The view is fantastic from here, and we wish you were with us,” he told Mission Control in Houston.

A little over eight hours into the flight, a satellite was spun out of the shuttle’s cargo bay on its way to permanent orbit 22,300 miles above Mexico. The Morelos satellite, named after an early hero in the Mexican independence movement, is designed to provide communications to some of the most remote parts of Mexico.

The Discovery, which is also carrying a French astronaut and five Americans, is scheduled to deploy two other communications satellites during the seven-day mission, the 18th flight of a shuttle.

Also aboard is a special mirror that will be mounted on a window Wednesday to see if a low-powered laser beamed up from Hawaii can track the ship. It is the first space experiment in President Reagan’s “Star Wars” missile defense research effort.

The crew will also deploy a small satellite Thursday that will search the galaxy for the “black hole” believed to be at its center. The satellite will be retrieved Saturday.

29 Princes Watch

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, 28, become the first Arabian in space and the youngest person to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft. He is a nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd.

The first day in space was a quiet one for the crew, with only occasional exchanges with the ground.

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

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

Crew Members

The American crew includes flight commander Daniel C. Brandenstein, 42; pilot John O. Creighton, 42; and mission specialists Steven R. Nagel, 38; John M. Fabian, 46, and Shannon W. Lucid, 42.

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 the 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.

By Monday morning, there was not a sign of stormy weather, permitting “one of the smoothest (launches) we’ve had in quite some time,” said Cleon Lacefield of Mission Control.

Arab Satellite

Today the prince will have a chance to witness the deployment of an Arab satellite that is powerful enough to have its signals “captured” by small receivers on the ground, thus expanding communications into some of the most remote villages in the Arab world. The satellite is owned by 21 Arab nations and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The third satellite to be deployed on this flight is owned by American Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Discovery is scheduled to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California Monday at 6:14 a.m.