Shuttle Crew Prepares for Lofty Holiday

Five astronauts scheduled to be orbiting the Earth on Christmas climbed aboard the space shuttle Columbia on Friday for the final two hours of a successful practice countdown.

The test, which began Thursday, covered the final 24 hours of an actual count and provided training for both the launch team and the astronauts, who checked spacecraft communications circuits and other systems just as they will on launch day.

“Everything proceeded smoothly during today’s terminal countdown demonstration test,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration spokeswoman Lisa Malone said.

Columbia is scheduled to be launched Dec. 18, but officials said the schedule is tight and that liftoff might have to be delayed a day or two. Shuttle managers will select a launch date on Tuesday after a two-day flight readiness review.

During the 10-day mission, the astronauts are to release a Navy communications satellite and then track down and retrieve for return to Earth a science satellite that has been orbiting the globe for nearly six years.

Once the Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite is secure in the cargo bay, the crew members are scheduled to conduct medical and materials processing experiments for five days.

They said they are planning something special for their Christmas in space, but would not reveal those plans.

The commander of the mission is Dan Brandenstein, the pilot is Jim Wetherbee and mission specialists are Bonnie Dunbar, Marsha Ivins and David Low.