Astronauts Work at Fast Pace as Discovery Mission Nears End

Discovery’s astronauts kept up a grueling pace inside their orbiting laboratory Tuesday and said they hope to get all “A’s” for their work when they return home.

The crew of six men and one woman was squeezing in as much scientific work as possible before the mission ends Thursday, with landing scheduled for 8:07 a.m. PST at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The flight was extended to eight days to allow an additional day for experiments.

“You know how much work the scientists have put into putting experiments together. We only hope the data they’re going to get back from this space mission will be reflective of all our caring and effort,” astronaut Roberta L. Bondar said during a space-to-ground news conference.

Bondar compared the mission to an “open-book exam.”

“I hope that when we get back we all get four A’s,” she told reporters.

The news conference was conducted in English, French and German. Bondar, a Canadian neurologist, and crewmate Ulf Merbold, a German physicist, are the first foreigners to fly on a NASA shuttle since 1985.

Astronaut David C. Hilmers admitted to being a little lax at times. He said he has trouble staying awake while riding in a rotating chair that is used in a space motion sickness study.

“I found myself today trying to sing the Marine Corps hymn or any other song that has a lively beat to try to stay awake,” said Hilmers, a Marine lieutenant colonel.

In addition to medical tests, the crew kept tabs on a multitude of organisms: roundworms, stick insects, frog eggs, fetal mouse bones, slime mold, oat and wheat seedlings, lentil roots, thale cress, and human and animal cells.

Tuesday marked the first time that Americans have been in orbit on the anniversary of the Jan. 28, 1986, explosion of the shuttle Challenger. All seven members of that crew died in the blast that tore through the shuttle 73 seconds after liftoff.