Scrimping Saves Shuttle Mapping Job

By scrimping on fuel, space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts have saved enough to complete their mapping of Earth’s peaks and valleys, NASA said Thursday.

“We have basically nickeled and dimed our way up to full payment, and this has not been easy,” said NASA official Milt Heflin.

A balky thruster on the end of the 197-foot-long radar antenna mast jutting out of Endeavour’s cargo bay had threatened to cut short the mapping by as much as a day. But Thursday, the space agency informed the six astronauts that their mapping would continue until Sunday night as planned.

That wasn’t the only good news. To NASA’s surprise, the thruster started working again, though only slightly. The astronauts had kept opening and closing the valve to the nitrogen-gas line in an attempt to clear any debris. “So everything’s headed the right way, and we’re all pleased,” Mission Control told the astronauts.

As of Thursday--Day 6 of the nine days of mapping planned--the radar aboard Endeavour had scanned more than 39 million square miles of Earth’s terrain at least once.

By Sunday night, the astronauts hope to have mapped about 48 million square miles of terrain at least twice, creating the most complete and accurate three-dimensional maps of the world.