Space Station Glitch Could Harm Mission

Mission controllers at Kennedy Space Center have turned off one of four gyroscopes that keep the International Space Station properly positioned in space because it was vibrating excessively.

Although the space station needs only two of the four devices functioning, having one down could be troublesome in December during space shuttle Discovery’s mission to the orbiting outpost. During one of the mission’s three planned spacewalks, two other gyroscopes will be powered down so astronauts can hook up electrical cables to solar panels that were installed during last month’s flight of space shuttle Atlantis.

“You honestly don’t want to power off two and have only one operating,” said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston.