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The space shuttle Discovery raced toward Mir Wednesday to make the ninth and final U.S. docking with the aging Russian outpost. But you might not see the linkup on television. After soaring in orbit Tuesday evening, the astronauts quickly ran into a problem with part of their communications system that uses the so-called KU-band antenna. It was accepting all the data from Mission Control Wednesday but could not send back TV pictures or high rates of information. Flight controllers did not know whether the trouble was with the antenna itself, a transmitter or other associated equipment. NASA officials said the trouble will not affect Thursday’s docking with Mir.
