Shuttle Crew Weary, Happy With Mission

With the end of their 16-day laboratory mission in sight, scientists aboard the space shuttle Columbia are exhausted but thrilled with all their results. Since blasting off on July 1, Columbia’s crew of seven has been working around the clock in two shifts to complete an $86-million program of scientific research, including the setting of hundreds of small test fires to study combustion processes. So far, Columbia has only five or six items in its trouble log--including a tiny window ding caused by a micrometeoroid--impressive for so long a flight, said mission operations director Lee Briscoe.