Discovery, Launched After Delay, Releases Satellite

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. —  The space shuttle Discovery rocketed into orbit Thursday on a flight delayed by woodpeckers and promptly released a $330-million satellite to replace one destroyed in the Challenger disaster.

The crew released the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite six hours into the flight. The shiny, gold-colored satellite drifted off as the shuttle slowly backed away.

“Discovery, excellent job. Happy faces,” Mission Control told the crew.

An attached rocket motor fired and propelled the satellite from Discovery’s 184-mile altitude into a 22,300-mile-high orbit. There, it joins five other TDR satellites and serves as a spare.

The TDRS network links ground controllers with Discovery as well as other orbiting craft, such as the Hubble Space Telescope.

The shuttle flight was delayed five weeks by woodpeckers that drilled more than 200 holes in the insulating foam of Discovery’s main fuel tank last May. NASA had to return the shuttle to the hangar for repairs.

It was the first time in 34 years of U.S. human spaceflight that animals delayed a launch, and NASA couldn’t resist a little woodpecker humor.

On the astronauts’ breakfast table, in their suit-up room and inside Mission Control were little stuffed Woody Woodpeckers. Once in orbit, commander Terence (Tom) Henricks offered this assessment of the cockpit windows: “No debris--especially no feathers.”

The mission marks the shortest gap ever between NASA manned missions--six days. The shuttle Atlantis returned last Friday after a linkup with Russia’s space station.

Discovery’s eight-day trip is also the first flight utilizing a new, improved type of engine and the first voyage managed by a new Mission Control center.