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NATION IN BRIEF : SPACE : Shuttle Columbia’s Landing Delayed

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

The shuttle Columbia’s predawn California landing was postponed to Saturday because of fog over the Mojave Desert, pushing the satellite-rescue mission to a record-breaking 11 days. Columbia, carrying an 11-ton science satellite in its payload bay, had been scheduled to glide to a touchdown early this morning at Edwards Air Force Base. But after holding up re-entry for one 90-minute orbit to assess fog over the landing site, NASA managers decided conditions would not improve enough by the revised touchdown time and landing was delayed to Saturday.

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