Columbia Countdown Begins

By Fraser Cain - February 25, 2002 at 10:56 AM UTC | Missions

NASA began the countdown on Monday for the upcoming launch the space shuttle

Columbia

on a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. If all goes well,

Columbia

will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center on February 28 at 1148 GMT (6:48am EST). Over the course of the 11-day mission, astronauts will carry out five scheduled spacewalks to install new hardware, including a new camera, solar wings, a power-control unit, and steering mechanism. Forecasters are expecting a 70% chance that the weather will be good enough for launch.

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today, founding the website in March 1999. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast.