News In Brief

Discovery shuttle craft set for new try at maiden trip

The countdown was under way Monday for a third attempt tomorrow at launching Discovery on its maiden voyage. Discovery, the third ship in the nation's shuttle fleet, is to lift off at 8: 35 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday with 20 tons of cargo: three communications satellites, a small drugmaking unit, and an experimental solar panel, the heaviest payload yet for a shuttle mission.

In Washington, President Reagan announced at a meeting of teachers and administrators yesterday that he has directed NASA to begin a search for a schoolteacher to be the first citizen passenger to journey into space aboard the space shuttle.