The Nation : Shuttle Columbia Rolled to Launch Pad

After completing a seven-hour trip to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the space shuttle Columbia was being readied by engineers and technicians for an early August flight with five astronauts who are to release a secret military spy satellite. Carried by a powerful crawler-transporter, Columbia, which has only flown once in the last six years, took the long-awaited 4.2-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The glacial journey ended when the shuttle and its mobile launch platform were mounted on giant support pedestals at the launch pad. Columbia will be making its first flight since the Challenger explosion 3 1/2 years ago. The other two shuttles, Discovery and Atlantis, each have been launched twice since flights resumed last September. The shuttle’s five-man crew plans to fly to Florida today to take part in a dress-rehearsal countdown Tuesday. An official launch date has not been set, but liftoff of the fifth post-Challenger mission, originally planned for July 31, likely will not be before the week of Aug. 7.