programme over the weekend.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Bermuda is a link in a worldwide chain of safety measures that must be flawless before a shuttle is allowed to blast off.

And in the unlikely event of problems Bermuda could serve as an early emergency landing area for the shuttle.

The Cooper's Island station relies on Cable & Wireless for its communications, making that company another important factor.

Station Director Mr. Steve Stompf said: "Our station and Cable & Wireless are both mandatory during a launch. If either of us has a piece of equipment which fails they would not launch.'' The network stretches out around the world with NASA stations and possible landing areas in Gambia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Australia all needing to have fairly good weather and fully working equipment before a shuttle can launch from Cape Canaveral.

The Bermuda role is primarily to watch the shuttle as it flies out over the Atlantic checking on a number of critical pieces of information to ensure the flight is going according to plan.

Mr. Stompf said: "There are times when we are the only ones providing the information back to NASA in the United States.

"We also cover five orbits a day when the shuttle is up there and continue to relay information via Cable & Wireless.'' This weekend's launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour saw the operation stretching over two days following a delayed launch on Sunday.

The hold-up was caused by the weather in Florida where even the slightest hitches can cause the missions to be aborted. However there was also a fear that a container ship had strayed into the area of the ocean where the shuttle could drop if there was a problem.

It meant station personnel had to have two 1 a.m. starts to prepare for the launch which finally took place yesterday at 10.07 a.m.

One of the main things the Bermuda station must watch for is that the fuels tanks "tumble'' correctly when they are jettisoned so as to cause the least possible effect when they splash down into the sea.

There are many other tests possible from Bermuda including checking the trajectory of the shuttle is correct.

One interesting use for Bermuda would arise in the case of problems early in the flight. While a problem immediately on take-off would mean the shuttle landing back at the Kennedy Space centre, minutes later it could be nearer to Bermuda and would, therefore, land on the US Naval Air Station in St. David's.

Over the weekend a US Navy pilot was flown in to Bermuda to stand by in case of this unlikely event taking place, or in case the shuttle happened to drop into the Atlantic nearby with the crew bailing out.

Mr. Stompf said: "The US Navy is here to provide support to the shuttle if it did happen to land here. There is also an airplane in case they have to bail out into the ocean.'' The importance of the Bermudian operation is also visible by the important guests they receive including the Governor Lord Waddington who visited the station soon after his arrival on the Island.

Mr. Stompf said: "Luckily we had an astronaut here at the time to speak to the Governor.'' Guests to the station are given information sheets about each of the flights.

Yesterday's STS-57 Shuttle Mission is the first time a satellite will be retrieved from space by a shuttle.

Mr. Stompf said: "It is a European satellite and when it is retrieved information can be obtained by the European Space Agency.

"There will be a four hours extra-vehicular activity, or spacewalk, which is in preparation for future flights when EVAs will be necessary.'' Mr. Stompf said spacewalks will be needed to repair the Hubble Telescope, which is experiencing problems in space and to start work on building a space station in the future.

Another role of Endeavour is to help develop SPACEHAB which aims to conduct scientific experiments for commercial agencies.

Mr. Stompf said: "The experiments flying inside this first SPACEHAB include investigations ranging from drug improvement, feeding plants, cell splitting, the first space soldering experiments and high temperature melting of metals.'' Shuttle launched short of a week with the spacewalk expected on Saturday.

NASA Bermuda's next support mission is already being prepared. It is a French rocket taking off from French Guyana in September.

Mr. Stompf said: "Since 1961 when the station started up for Project Mercury it has been involved in supporting every mission from the East Cost of America.

"It was also used to check on migratory birds for the Woods's Hole Institute in Massachusetts.

"Space technology is worth the money because of the numbers of things that have come from there. A number of technological breakthroughs have come from experiments in the space environment or as a result of space flights.'' Two everyday examples, which were invented for space travel, are velcro and digital watches which can probably be found in every home in Bermuda.

VITAL SIGNS -- Keeping a watchful eye on the instruments at NASA Bermuda are Operations Controller Mr. Ken Sanderson and Operations Manager Mr. Burt Larson. Mr. Steve Stompf.