Satellite shoot-down doesn't trouble commander

The Columbus module is being outfitted


Atlantis will be far from ballistic missile launch.

Shuttle commander Steve Frick said he isn't worried about the destruction of a failed spy satellite, which is planned for shortly after the shuttle lands Wednesday morning.

"We don't have any concerns," said Frick. "We're going to be safely on the ground."

Frick said he was notified about the shoot-down plan through normal command channels. The space station will be at least 100 miles above the crippled spy satellite, which carries 1,000 pounds of toxic hydrazine rocket fuel that could reach Earth. The military hopes it can scatter the frozen fuel with a ballistic missile fired from a Navy cruiser.

"We're not worried about it either," said space station commander Peggy Whitson.

Whitson and Frick spoke at a press briefing from space, in which the international crew of Atlantis and the space station spoke with media representatives in the U.S., Germany and France.

Dan Tani, a U.S. flight engineer, will return to earth with the Atlantis crew. He has mixed emotions, though he's eager to return to his family.

"I loved living here. It's comfortable. It's fun. It's exciting," said Tani, who performed several spacewalks. "I'm looking forward to putting food on a plate and eating several things at once."

He also anticipates being able to spit toothpaste in a sink.

International astronauts include German Hans Schlegel, Leo Eyharts of France and Russian Yuri Malenchenko.

"The cooperation we have in a tight shuttle crew is (now) even a bigger circle," said Schlegel, who has recovered from an undisclosed ailment that prevented him from making a spacewalk on Monday. He spacewalked Wednesday.

Atlantis delivered the 27,000-pound Columbus laboratory module built in Europe. During the next few months, the space station will be visited by another shuttle, a Russian Progress cargo carrier and an experimental European cargo vessel.

"We've got a very exciting next couple of months," said Whitson, the ISS commander who has earned a reputation for hard work and efficiency. "We plan on making it all happen."

For rookie astronaut, Stan Love, the mission has held a slight disappointment. Love, an astronomer, said he has had no time to study the stars.

"I have not seen a star yet," said Love, 42. "I've been working hard and the lights have been on. What's been amazing to see is the Earth. You have no idea what the word planet really means until you've seen that."















Ten members of the crew of Atlantis and the International Space Station gathered for a press briefing Saturday.