Shuttle Columbia Arrives for Overhaul

Space shuttle Columbia, the oldest in NASA’s four-ship fleet, arrived in Palmdale on Saturday for its 122-million-mile tuneup.

The ship, which in July was piloted by the first U.S. female commander, arrived piggyback atop a modified Boeing 747 at 10:19 a.m. at Air Force Base 42. The shuttle is expected to be lifted off the carrier plane about noon today and moved to Boeing’s Orbiter Assembly Facility, where it will undergo nine months of overhaul, Boeing spokeswoman Lynne Van Trieste said.

The shuttle left Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Friday and remained overnight at Whiteman Air Force Base near Kansas City, Mo., before the final hop to Palmdale. The overhaul is the fourth since the shuttle went into service in 1981.

Columbia, which has flown 26 missions, was last launched July 23 with Air Force Col. Eileen Collins, 42, as its commander. Shortly after the launch, which had been repeatedly delayed, a short-circuit knocked out computers for two of the shuttle’s three main engines. Backup computers allowed the mission to continue.

Exposed wiring and similar flaws have been found in two other ships in the fleet--Endeavour and Discovery. Consequently, all flights have been postponed until at least mid-October, program officials said.