Houston – Space shuttle Atlantis was cleared to depart the international space station after a test Monday showed that Russian computers that crashed last week can control the outpost’s orientation.
Officials examined test data and decided the crucial computers controlled the station’s thrusters properly. Atlantis is scheduled to undock today with a planned return to Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday.
“Everything looked pretty good,” said NASA spokesman Kyle Herring. “There was nothing that would give them any level of concern.”
The revived computers had not commanded the Russian thrusters since last Tuesday, when six computer processors in the two systems started crashing. During the computer meltdown, Atlantis’ thrusters helped maintain the station’s orientation.
The computers were brought back to life over the weekend, but NASA and Russian managers wanted to make sure Atlantis wasn’t needed for another day to give engineers on the ground more time to figure out the problem. Some lights, cameras and computers had been turned off on the space shuttle to preserve power in case the extra day was required.
The computers also control life-support systems such as an oxygen generator, temperature and a carbon-dioxide scrubber. Except for the oxygen generator, all the space-station systems were turned back on over the weekend. Oxygen for the crews has come from other sources, such as a cargo ship on the Russian side of the station.
Meanwhile, a leader for almost 570 striking aerospace workers at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., warned Monday that the lack of training by replacement workers filling their jobs temporarily posed a safety risk in preparing for the next shuttle launch in August. Members of the machinists union began the strike last week, said Lew Jamieson.
