Shuttle Dodges Storms on Jupiter Probe Flight

Space shuttle Atlantis darted between two storm systems and thundered flawlessly into orbit today, starting the plutonium-powered Galileo probe on a twice-delayed, roundabout journey to Jupiter.

The 132-ton Atlantis with a crew of five lifted off at 9:53 a.m. PDT, riding a 700-foot column of flame out over the Atlantic on a five-day mission that anti-nuclear activists fearful of a Challenger-like accident were unable to stop.

Two minutes after liftoff, the two solid fuel booster rockets burned out and fell away as planned. Mission Control reported 8 1/2 minutes after blastoff that the shuttle had reached orbit more than 100 miles above the Earth.

“You looked marvelous going up,” Mission Control said.

“I feel a lot better,” replied Atlantis Commander Don Williams.

Atlantis was grounded Tuesday by rain and last week by a faulty engine computer. Its launch was in doubt up to a few minutes before liftoff today because of a cold front to one side and offshore rain clouds to the other.

Thousands were at the Kennedy Space Center and nearby vantage points to watch the start of the 31st space shuttle mission, during which the astronauts will deploy Galileo and also conduct medical and other scientific experiments.

About 200 armed security guards--on land, in boats and in the air--were alert for anti-nuclear trespassers who had threatened to sit on the pad if necessary to halt the launch, but liftoff took place without incident.

The astronauts were to release the 6,700-pound Galileo from Atlantis’ cargo bay about 6 1/2 hours after liftoff, starting it on a six-year, 2.4-million-mile journey through the solar system to Jupiter, the biggest planet.

The $1.5-billion Galileo, the most expensive unmanned space vehicle ever built, is expected to give the best look yet at the mysteries of another planet. “It is the Rolls-Royce of spacecraft,” said Clayne Yeates, a mission manager.

The mission ends Monday in the Mojave Desert at Edwards Air Force Base. Besides Williams, the crew members are pilot Mike McCulley and mission specialists Ellen Baker, Franklin Chang-Diaz and Shannon Lucid.

Anti-nuclear activists last week lost a lawsuit to block the launch. They charged that the 50 pounds of plutonium that supply electricity to Galileo could scatter radiation over Florida in the event of an accident.

NASA says the chances of a plutonium release are 1 in 25,000, and even if there was a release there would be no appreciable harm to the public.

Demonstrators had said they might try to halt liftoff by infiltrating the launch area. But Bruce Gagnon, a protest leader, said his group had made its point Monday when eight members got arrested for trespassing at the space center.