Shuttle Returns, Sets Record for Heaviest Load

The space shuttle Columbia and its crew sailed through a clear dawn sky and landed with the fleet’s heaviest scientific load Sunday, clearing the way for NASA’s next mission in just six days.

It was, at 16 days, the second-longest flight in shuttle history, just half a day short of the record.

“Probably more than anybody, I was really hoping that we would get the duration record. I wanted to stay up a day or two, however long we could, longer,” said pilot Kent Rominger. “But I tell you what, now that we’re back on Earth, it sure is nice to be here.”

Columbia’s research mission was all about learning how to use the international space station once it’s built. The next shuttle flight will focus on station assembly.

Atlantis is scheduled to blast off Saturday on the second docking mission with the Russian space station Mir.

There will be no crew swap this time. Rather, the shuttle will take up a docking tunnel, food, water and other supplies for the cosmonauts; the Atlantis crew will attach the tunnel to Mir for future shuttle dockings. It will be the first time a shuttle has performed station-building tasks.

Columbia commander Kenneth Bowersox said it is important--and logical--for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to learn how to conduct station-type science while learning how to build a station.

“That way, the facility is going to be ready to be used, and will be used, as soon as it’s operational,” he said. “It’s the most efficient way to operate.”

NASA had feared high winds might keep Columbia up an extra day, which would have delayed Atlantis’ liftoff by one day. But a cold front passed through quicker than expected and the landing weather was near-perfect.

Bowersox guided Columbia across the United States into the Kennedy Space Center just after sunrise. “Great ending,” he said.

Columbia weighed 230,400 pounds at touchdown, the heaviest returning shuttle yet. Flight director Rich Jackson said it was a few hundred pounds more than typical laboratory missions because of all the scientific experiments.