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| Image above: Space Shuttle Discovery is pictured
from a miniature satellite that was released from Discovery's payload
bay on Wednesday. Image Credit: DOD Space Test Program |
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Space shuttle cleared for Friday landing
About 3:35 p.m. EST Thursday, flight controllers at the Mission Control
Center in Houston told Commander Mark Polansky that the Mission Management
Team had cleared Space Shuttle Discovery for re-entry.
The decision came after analysis of data collected during Wednesday’s
inspection of Discovery’s heat shield.
Discovery’s first landing opportunity is scheduled at 3:56 p.m.
EST Friday at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
If weather does not cooperate, six more opportunities at three landing
sites are available. The Friday weather forecast currently calls for a
chance of rain and low clouds at Kennedy, potential strong crosswinds
at Edwards Air Force Base in California and acceptable landing conditions
at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
The last opportunity at Kennedy is at 5:32 p.m. Three exist at Edwards
– 5:27 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8:36 p.m. Two are available at White Sands
– 5:27 p.m. and 7:02 p.m. All three sites will be activated. Landing
opportunities also are available Saturday at all three sites.
In preparation for landing, Polansky and Pilot Bill Oefelein checked
out Discovery’s systems and jets that will be used in the deorbit
burn and landing. Also, crew members have been busy stowing equipment
and other items. Other preparations included a review of the landing procedure
and stowage of the Ku-band antenna.
The crew members took a break Thursday afternoon to talk with reporters
from CNN and ABC News and with students at the Kenai, Alaska, Challenger
Center.
In other activities, the Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment (ANDE)
was deployed Thursday from Discovery's payload bay at 1:23 p.m. ANDE will
measure the density and composition of the low-Earth orbit atmosphere
while being tracked from the ground. The data will be used to better predict
the movement of objects in orbit. Two other small satellites were deployed
Wednesday night.
Discovery undocked from the station Tuesday, ending an eight-day stay
at the orbital outpost. While there, the crew continued the construction
of the station with the addition of the P5 spacer truss segment during
the first of four spacewalks. The next two spacewalks rewired the station’s
power system, leaving it in a permanent setup. A fourth spacewalk was
added to allow the crew to retract solar arrays that had folded improperly.
Discovery also delivered a new crew member and more than two tons of
equipment and supplies to the station. Almost two tons of items no longer
needed on the station will return to Earth with STS-116.
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