CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — With ideal weather expected for Thursday’s shuttle launch, European space officials grew increasingly exhilarated as each passing trouble-free hour brought their long-delayed science lab closer to liftoff.
The laboratory, Columbus, was packed aboard space shuttle Atlantis. As NASA breezed through its countdown, the lab and shuttle were declared ready to fly to the international space station following a high-level review by managers on Tuesday.
“It’s very difficult for a Brit to say that he’s excited,” said Alan Thirkettle, the European Space Agency’s station program manager. “But we are very, very excited. We’re looking forward, seriously, to seeing Columbus be where it belongs.”
Columbus — in the works for a quarter-century — is a 23-foot- long high-tech laboratory worth $2 billion that was built in Europe and will be controlled from there once it is attached to the space station.
