Engineers prepared to start the countdown for the space shuttle Discovery at Florida's Kennedy Space Center as environmentalists sued to halt the Saturday blastoff. Discovery is to launch a probe that will fly over the uncharted poles of the sun. It carries 24 pounds of plutonium 238 dioxide, and environmentalists fear a radiation release if there is a launching catastrophe.
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NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Countdown Starting for Shuttle Mission
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
- Space shuttle Discovery flies over D.C. to cheers -- and warnings
April 17, 2012 - Oak Tree Lady Plants Seeds of Discovery
May 14, 1998 - Peckish Woodpeckers Delay Space Shuttle Discovery's Next Mission
June 3, 1995 - WHOSE RIVER IS IT, ANYWAY? : More Concrete Versus More Nature: The Battle Over Flood control on the Los Angeles River Is Really a Fight for Its Soul
November 20, 1994 - Astronaut's Kin Settles With Maker of Rocket in Space Shuttle Death
February 18, 1988
