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| Image above: (From left) STS-118
mission specialists Barbara Morgan, KD5VNP, Dave Williams and Commander
Scott Kelly talk to schoolchildren from the La Ronge, Saskatchewan
area. Image: NASA TV |
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STS-118 crew prepares for landing
The seven-member STS-118 crew is preparing for its return to Earth aboard
Space Shuttle Endeavour after a successful stay at the International Space
Station.
The crew completed tests this morning of Endeavour’s systems and
engines that will be used for re-entry and landing. Other preparations
include stowing equipment and a 30-minute deorbit briefing. The crew will
also have some off-duty time to prepare for Tuesday's landing opportunities.
In other activities, crew members took time out of their schedule at
11:46 a.m. today to field questions from Canadian schoolchildren from
the La Ronge, Saskatchewan, area.
Endeavour’s first landing opportunity on Tuesday is at 12:32 p.m.
EDT at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., with the deorbit burn occurring at
11:25 a.m. A second opportunity is available at the Florida spaceport
at 2:06 p.m. The deorbit burn would occur at 1 p.m.
Three opportunities are available Tuesday at Edwards Air Force Base in
California. The first calls for landing at 3:37 p.m., with the deorbit
burn at 2:30 p.m. The second calls for the deorbit burn to occur at 4:06
p.m. and landing at 5:11 p.m. The third opportunity would have the deorbit
burn at 5:43 p.m. and landing at 6:48 p.m.
White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico will not be called up for a possible
Tuesday landing there.
Meanwhile, mission managers continue to monitor Hurricane Dean as it
moves westward in the Caribbean Sea.
The STS-118 crew members spent almost nine days at the international
outpost. They continued the on-orbit construction of the station and transferred
tons of cargo between the two spacecraft. The STS-118 crew conducted four
spacewalks at the station. The two major objectives were the installation
of the S5 and the replacement of a failed attitude control gyroscope.
Hurricane Dean Information
On-orbit Hurricane Dean Video:
Real Video | Windows
Media
NASA
Hurricane Resource Page
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