Shuttle Discovery on a Relief Mission

The shuttle Discovery thundered into orbit Friday on a mission to ferry nearly four tons of supplies and a fresh three-man crew to the international space station.

Running a day late because of stormy weather, Discovery’s solid-fuel boosters ignited with a flash and a roar at 5:10 p.m.--five minutes earlier than planned because of approaching clouds--instantly pushing the 4 1/2-million-pound spacecraft away from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

“Let’s go!” said shuttle commander Scott “Doc” Horowitz.

Horowitz, pilot Frederick Sturckow and spacewalkers Daniel Barry and Patrick Forrester made the trip into orbit strapped into seats on Discovery’s upper deck.

The space station’s new crew--Expedition Three commander Frank Culbertson and Russian flight engineers Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin--rode on Discovery’s lower deck.

If all goes well, the shuttle will catch up to the international space station this afternoon.

Culbertson, a veteran shuttle commander, Dezhurov and Tyurin are replacing the station’s second full-time crew, Russian commander Yury Usachev, Susan Helms and James Voss, launched March 8 aboard Discovery.

When Usachev and his crewmates return to Earth aboard Discovery on Aug. 22, they will have completed 167 days in space. Culbertson’s crew is to return in early December.

“It’s been a real pleasure training with both of these guys and working with them and becoming even better friends with them over the last year and a half,” Culbertson said before launch.

While the crew exchange is the primary goal of Discovery’s mission, the shuttle crew also is delivering nearly 7,000 pounds of fresh food, clothing and other supplies and equipment to the station, including a new central command-and-control computer.