Though happily retired, the editor was invited by Mitch Davis, an old friend who manages Fox News Radio these days, to go down to the Kennedy Space Center and call the play by play on Discovery's launch and subsequent landing..just like old times when we both worked at ABC News. The editor snapped up the chance and, sure enough, it was just like old times..

It took awhile to get Discovery off the ground, but when she finally lifted away, she was spectacular.

Never mind all the fuss about fuel gauges and weather and all that other stuff. There is nothing to compare with the launch of a space shuttle, unless you happened to have been there when Apollo went to the moon. I was, and that was something the likes of which we'll never see again. But I'm always trailing off like that--let's just talk about Discovery.

The place where I broadcast these events is about three and a half miles away from the launch pad. That's close enough for the sound waves to rattle windows, shake the floor and thump on your chest. And so they did at 10:39AM, Eastern time, July 26th, returning the shuttles to flight after a two and a half year hiatus caused by the Columbia disaster. (See Index of Previous Features for "A Guide to Columbia" and other stories.)

By now you also know that future flights have been put on hold again because the big fuel tank is still shedding foam that could damage the shuttles in powered flight.

(Left: tank after being jettisoned from the shuttle in orbit.)

That was the thing that killed Columbia, and a piece of material just missed Discovery on the way "uphill" this time, so here we go again. When they think it's really fixed, they will fly again because the shuttles are absolutely necessary to the good health and safety of the International Space Station and its crews.

But since you do know that part of the story, let's look at the details of some of the absolutely fantastic technology now riding on these spaceships; new technology mandated by the team that investigated Columbia. The shuttle's Deputy Program Manager, Wayne Hale, whose experience dates back to Apollo control, said the new things far "exceeded his expectations." Me, they just blow away.

That's a picture of a robotic arm on the space station; you can see a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked there in the rear. The shuttle's arm is somewhat longer; they've provided a new 50 foot extension which the shuttle arm can pick up to extend its reach. The extension arm has cameras, standard and infra-red, which can now explore every inch of the shuttle's surface while it's in space..looking for chips, dings or holes. The fantastic thing is that those scanners are so sensitive that can even see craze marks in the surface coating on the big tiles that cover the shuttle's leading edge. All of it is transmitted to experts in Houston who are now able to see things they've only dreamed of studying while the shuttle is in orbit. This has never been possible before. In addition, the shuttles are being studied by wonderful new ground based cameras as they climb toward orbit--cameras so good they got great shots of the machine hitting a bird shortly after liftoff. A camera on the fuel tank watched the boosters fall away and looked up as the shuttle dropped the tank and climbed away. It was that camera that also saw in detail how pieces of foam broke away from the tank, narrowly missing the shuttle's belly. Ground analysis quickly led engineers to the exact spot from which the foam departed, pinpointing where remedial work will have to be done. By the way, the pictures in this column come to us courtesy of NASA Television.

Before I slip into my old Science Writer habits, I want to go into picture mode for the rest of this piece. Some absolutely beautiful things have come down from space and I want you to see them. Some of them show what this new technology can do, so let's start there:

Here's how good it is; this picture of the shuttle's approach was taken from the station. There is a piece of grout, or "gapfiller," protruding about an inch or so..and they caught it. The ship is about 600 feet away.

Even better: remember the fuss about a chip out of a tile on the nosewheel door? Here it is, alongside that protrusion in the other picture.

This overhead shot reveals a gap in one of the tile blankets on the left side of the cockpit. That may require extra attention.

The following is a squence of shots taken while the shuttle did a backflip under the station. Never done before, the maneuver allowed the station crew to photograph the belly in detail..looking for damage.

How about them apples?

The docking with the station is virtually a ballet. The remarkable pictures that follow give only a sense of what it's like:

Discovery, ahead of the station and ready to back up to its docking port.

Spacecraft Commander, Eileen Collins, manually flying Discovery to the target.

Mission Control, looking over their shoulders from Houston.

The station, seen through a camera mounted in the shuttle's docking adaptor.

Contact! The shuttle's docking probe is caught by the station's docking cone, and the 200 ton station is hooked to the 100 ton orbiter.

The International Space Station, seen through the shuttle's overhead windows.

Discovery, docked.

This is the display in Mission Control that tells engineers exactly how the station and shuttle are situated in relation to each other and to the earth. Upper left, rear view of stack. Upper right, stack's angle to Earth. Lower center: the station and shuttle's track across Earth's surface.

Have you ever seen the like? Me, neither.

That's enough for now. Come back soon and ride the Left Seat with me.

And drop a line when you can.

Jim Slade

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