This Echo is READ ONLY !   NO Un-Authorized Messages Please!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

STS-107
Report #15 
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 -- 5 p.m. CST 
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas 

Columbia's seven astronauts took a break from their around-the-clock
scientific research today to answer reporters' questions in the
traditional on-orbit crew news conference. 

Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Mission Specialists Dave
Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson and Laurel Clark, and Israel
Space Agency Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon fielded questions about how 
their shuttle was performing as a research laboratory, their work in 
support of the STS-107 mission's 80 different experiments and
preparations for Saturday's planned landing. 

"The science we're doing here is great and it's fantastic," said
Anderson, the payload commander, "it's leading edge. But I think once
we get a seven-member crew on board the space station you're really
going to see some outstanding science in space. A lot of experiments
that we have are really just being demonstrated and developed. Once
they're fully developed they'll reside on board the space station and
the scientists … will have years to conduct the experiments that we'
re trying to do here in a relatively short period of time." 

Ramon reported that dust storms off the east coast of Africa were
scarce for the first week of the flight, but that a giant dust storm
kicked up over the Atlantic and lasted three days, providing ample
observations for the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment. He voiced
wishes for peace in his area of the world from 180 miles above. 

"The world looks marvelous from up here, so peaceful, so wonderful and 
so fragile," Ramon said. "The atmosphere is so thin and fragile, and I 
think all of us have to keep it clean and good. It saves our life and 
gives our life." 

After a 2:39 p.m. CST Blue Team wake-up to the sounds of John Lennon
singing "Imagine," MCCool and Ramon said their observations from orbit 
reveal no borders on the Earth below and reiterated in both English 
and Hebrew their hopes for peace in the world. 

Initial tests in the Combustion Module Facility with the newly
revitalized Water Mist Fire Suppression Experiment took center stage
today, with 14 sample runs completed after Chawla fixed a balky seal
in the combustion module yesterday. Another 20 runs are planned before 
the end of the mission on tests designed to learn exactly how the 
water interacts with flames as it is extinguishing them. 

The next STS-107 status report will be issued Thursday, or as events
warrant. 

                             ###

 - End of File -
================

---