Solar Satellite Fixed; Shuttle Project a ‘Go’

A malfunctioning solar observatory orbiting a million miles from Earth is working again, clearing the way for the launch today of a small sun-studying satellite from the shuttle Columbia, NASA officials said at the Kennedy Space Center. The space agency had delayed the release of the Spartan satellite from Columbia by 24 hours because of trouble with the European-U.S. Soho spacecraft, which was launched two years ago to study the sun daily. The two spacecraft were to make simultaneous observations of the sun’s fiery outer atmosphere. “It is fundamental to this mission to have coordinated solar observations with Soho,� Spartan mission manager Craig Tooley said.