The Nation : NASA Prepares for Shuttle Countdown

NASA engineers at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, after taking time off for the Thanksgiving holiday, worked to ready the shuttle Atlantis for the start of its countdown to blastoff on a top-secret military mission. The countdown was scheduled to begin early Monday, leading to a launch attempt Thursday morning. The launch team worked on Atlantis’ engine compartment and to finish installation and checkout of explosive devices needed by the shuttle’s self-destruct system, which would allow it to be blown up on radio command from the ground after the crew leaves in the event of a malfunction that could put an out-of-control shuttle over populated areas. The goal of the mission is the deployment of a top-secret Pentagon spy satellite.