Atlantis flight director says mission was 'outstanding'

After a stressful, but mostly problem-free, 12-day mission, the space shuttle Atlantis is home, and flight director Michael J. Sarafin can readjust his sleep schedule.

The shuttle landed Wednesday after a mission to deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. It was one of the last three planned space shuttle missions.

"We had a flawless landing to an outstanding mission," said Mr. Sarafin, an alumnus of Clarkson University, Potsdam. "My job is to worry. And I make sure the team is focused on the hard things and they don't let them slide."

Mr. Sarafin has been working the graveyard shift during the mission, going to mission control in Houston about midnight and not getting off until 9 a.m.

"My body's still telling me I should be up at 3 or 4 in the morning, and then by the afternoon, I'm ready to go back to sleep," he said.

During the mission, the main problem the crew encountered was during an inspection on the second day; a cable got stuck, leaving the astronauts unable to finish assessing possible damage. Using data from the space station, they got enough information to work with until a spacewalk could take place to fix the cable.

"You learn to work with what you have," Mr. Sarafin said. "Having experience with the ship and how the ship works definitely helps. I've worked with this crew before, so you're ahead of the curve because you know the game a bit."

Three of the four missions that Mr. Sarafin has directed have been with Atlantis. The other was with the shuttle Endeavour, which is one of the two other remaining American shuttles.

"It's kind of like any car or house; you have it for a while and you learn the nuances," the Herkimer native said.

There are two more planned shuttle missions, scheduled for later this year or possibly in early 2011. Funding for the program to continue beyond that has been pulled. Two private companies will take over shuttle flights to supply the International Space Station, and American astronauts will partner with other countries to go into outer space.

Though the White House has said there will be no more shuttle flights after the last two, plenty of people around NASA are hoping that will change. Mr. Sarafin, who has worked on 15 shuttle flights, including four as flight director, is one of them.

"Absolutely," he said. "These ships are in great shape, but if that's not the direction we're told to march in, that's all."

Atlantis will be kept flight-ready in case something goes wrong to prevent the shuttle Endeavour from getting back safely during the ship's last flight, scheduled for late this year or early next year. After that, it will be packed off to one of several museums that are bidding for the old ships.

The 105-ton shuttle has been carrying astronauts into space since 1985, making 32 missions and flying 120 million miles.

Unmanned trips into outer space will continue, but Mr. Sarafin likely will not be involved with them, at least not right away.

"There's a little fuzz on the future," he said. "I'm trained and qualified to support the space shuttles and the International Space Station. The space station is a means to fall back on. If the shuttles ended today, that's what I would do."

He has been working with the space station for the past 21/2 years, in addition to his duties with mission control for the manned flights.

For now, however, Mr. Sarafin is planning to take some time off. He's already bought a plane ticket to go fishing with his brother in Alaska and is planning a trip back to New York to visit family, as well as his alma mater, this summer.

"I'm not going to look back regretfully or even remorsefully now at the end of the program," he said. "They all eventually come to an end. You get attached and you don't want it to end, but it's part of the process."