NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Space Crew Faces Variety of Tasks

Astronauts bound for space this week will unload an Italian laser-reflecting satellite and test a Canadian robotic vision system designed for the shuttle’s cumbersome arm. Packed between those two main events will be something for everyone: ozone measuring, rat tending, metal melting, helium chilling and heating, crystal growing, saliva collecting, back-pain monitoring and more. Columbia is scheduled to blast off on NASA’s 51st shuttle mission on Thursday. The countdown begins today. The crew’s first priority during the 10-day mission will be to release the Laser Geodynamic Satellite, or Lageos, which will be boosted to a 3,666-mile-high orbit by an attached rocket. By measuring how long it takes laser beams to travel to the satellite and back, geologists will be able to track, over time, the movement of Earth’s surface.