Shuttle’s Crew Sorry Mission Isn’t Extended

The astronauts of the space shuttle Challenger said Monday they were disappointed that their weeklong science voyage has not been extended by a day, but they vowed to schedule extra shifts to complete the 76 experiments in the Spacelab before the mission ends Wednesday.

“We had high hopes to spend at least one more day (in space),” West German science astronaut Reinhard Furrer said. “It will be difficult for me to come back.”

Ground controllers in West Germany asked to add a day to the flight, but NASA’s Mission Control said that electrical power was limited and that a mission extension was possible only if virtually all of the experiments in the Spacelab were turned off. Larry Bourgeois, U.S. flight director, said the West Germans then decided that it would be fruitless to stay up if their experiments could not be operated.

“The decision has been made not to extend the mission, and it will land at its normal time Wednesday” at 9:44 a.m. PST at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced.

Since the mission will not be extended, Ernst Messerschmid, one of two German scientists on board, said: “We’ll work extra shifts to get the work done.”