Shuttle Back; New Try In Works

The space shuttle Columbia glided to a smooth touchdown Tuesday, ending a science mission that was cut short because of a faulty power generator.

With commander James Halsell and pilot Susan Still at the controls, Columbia landed at the Kennedy Space Center at 2:33 p.m., just three days and 23 hours after blastoff Friday on what was supposed to be a 16-day mission.

The shuttle was called home early because a malfunction with one of Columbia’s three electrical generators raised concerns that the fuel cell might catch fire or explode. But officials were already considering rescheduling the mission for the coming summer.

Still loaded with 12 days’ worth of fuel and supplies, Columbia weighed a record 236,000 pounds at touchdown and was operating at reduced power. But Halsell, making his first landing as a commander, deftly maneuvered through crosswinds to a picture-perfect touchdown.

It was only the third time in shuttle history that a flight had to be terminated because of a technical problem in space, a crushing disappointment to scores of scientists and engineers who spent more than three years planning the complex flight.

The crew was supposed to conduct a wide variety of round-the-clock experiments, including lighting fires to study flames in space.

Almost as soon as Columbia’s crew was ordered home, NASA planners began studying the possibility of repairing the shuttle and relaunching the star-crossed mission as early as July 2, after a flight next month by the shuttle Atlantis to the Russian Mir space station.