Patience no problem for Sweden's first astronaut

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Dec 9: Space shuttle Discovery astronaut Christer Fuglesang knows better than most of his crewmates what it feels like to wait out launch delays.

Fuglesang, a European Space Agency astronaut who will become the first Swede in space, and six NASA astronauts are scheduled for liftoff at 8:47:34 p.m. EST on Saturday (0717 hrs IST tomorrow). It will be the first shuttle launch in darkness since before the 2003 Columbia accident.

The crew's first launch attempt on Thursday was canceled after an achingly long wait to see if clouds blanketing the Kennedy Space Center would lift before Earth's rotation took the Florida space center out of position to reach the International Space Station.

Yesterday's weather outlook was so bleak NASA didn't even try to launch, and today's forecast called for only a 30 per cent chance of suitable weather for liftoff.

Five of Discovery's seven astronauts have never made the trip to space before, but none has waited as long as Fuglesang, a 49-year-old particle physicist who joined the European Space Agency's astronaut corps 14 years ago.

Fuglesang originally trained in Russia to fly on a European-backed science mission aboard the now-defunct Mir space station. He learned to speak Russian, trained to spacewalk and became one of the few non-Russians certified to pilot a Soyuz spacecraft back to Earth.

But Fuglesang ended up in a backup role, supporting Germany's Thomas Reiter, who was chosen to make the flight instead. Fuglesang oversaw Reiter's science program and was his liaison to scientists back on Earth.

The two will soon be reunited -- in space. Reiter is finishing a six-month stint aboard the space station and will return home with Fuglesang aboard Discovery.

''We never thought that we ever would fly together in space,'' Fuglesang said in a recent interview. ''I guess it will be like suddenly meeting an old friend on some foreign island somewhere. It will be really great to see Thomas up there.'' Fuglesang is a Frisbee champion in Sweden and plans to bring a Frisbee along to attempt a new record to keep the aerodynamic toy disc aloft, which should be easy in the zero gravity of space.

DELIVER PART OF STATION

In addition to ferrying up Reiter's replacement, NASA's Sunita Williams, the shuttle crew plans to rewire the station's electrical system and deliver a new piece of the station's exterior structure. Fuglesang is paired with veteran NASA astronaut Robert Curbeam for the first two spacewalks of the mission.

During the first spacewalk, they will install a new external truss segment onto the station's structural backbone. Two days later, another is planned to begin hooking up the station's permanent electrical and cooling systems.

The work must be finished before any more station assembly missions can be flown. NASA is under a strict deadline to complete construction before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010. There are no other spaceships designed to carry and install the station components.

Fuglesang said he hopes his flight will inspire Swedes to become more involved in the space program and encourage young people to study engineering and science.

''I hope ... they will see the joy with space, the adventure, the future of space,'' he said. ''If I can help do that I'm very happy.''

REUTERS