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Atlantis due home Thursday BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: June 20, 2007; Updated at 9:20 p.m. The Atlantis astronauts packed up today for a hoped-for return to Earth Thursday to close out a dramatic space station assembly mission. Entry flight director Norm Knight said the shuttle's systems are operating normally and the only question mark is the weather, with forecasters calling for low clouds and afternoon showers at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA's Mission Management Team late today cleared the shuttle Atlantis for entry Thursday, weather permitting, after unanimously resolving a few final technical questions. MMT Chairman John Shannon scheduled an unusual night-before-entry meeting late today to discuss three last-minute issues:
The evening meeting lasted less than two hours. A NASA spokesman said engineers do, in fact, believe the debris seen after undocking was close to the shuttle and, as a result, small and no threat to the orbiter. As for the rocket pod analysis, the MMT concluded the graphite-epoxy material making up the left-side Orbital Maneuvering System rocket pod is not in any danger of over heating, thanks in part to the repair job carried out during a spacewalk last Friday. Finally, the MMT concluded the protruding gap filler thread will not cause any problems during entry. The spokesman said the decision to proceed with entry, weather permitting, was unanimous. "We're just trying to be completely thorough," Shannon said at an afternoon news conference before the meeting. "The reason we're having an MMT is to make sure everybody understands what assumptions were made, what new data we've learned, what the new thermal assessment is. And we also have to get the final aero-thermal analysis for that little bit of fluff that's on the outboard part of the left wing. We're just going to review those, I think we're going to stomp them flat and then we're going to be done with it and be ready to come home." Weather permitting, of course. As Knight reminded reporters today, "tomorrow's the first day of summer, by coincidence, and we know what summer brings to Florida, and that's afternoon thunderstorms." The Spaceflight Meteorology Group at the Johnson Space Center in Houston is predicting scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, a broken deck at 5,000 feet and overcast at 12,000 feet. Winds will be out of 240 degrees at 8 knots with gusts to 13 and thundershowers are expected within 30 nautical miles of the runway. NASA's flight rules require ceilings of at least 8,000 feet and no shower activity within 30 nautical miles. "So those are going to be our challenges tomorrow," Knight said. "Obviously, I would like clear skies, unlimited visibility and little wind. But unfortunately, those are not the cards we're typically dealt. We train to this, we're used to this type of environment in Florida. No landing is easy with weather." The Florida forecast does not get much better Friday and Saturday, although ceilings improve a bit. Atlantis has enough on-board supplies to stay in orbit until Sunday at the latest. "We have consumables that will support out through end of mission plus three," Knight said. "What that means in English is, end of mission being Thursday, we also have Friday and Saturday as a weather extension day and we keep Sunday open as a systems wave-off day. "So based on this, our weather strategy going into tomorrow is that on Thursday we're only going to target the Kennedy Space Center and we have two opportunities to do that. Friday, we're going to target Kennedy Space Center again. However, we may target the Edwards Air Force Base landing site, it will all depend on the weather, how it looks on Saturday. We'll look at the Saturday forecast. If the Kennedy Space Center is still questionable and Edwards is not pristine, then we will call up Edwards on Friday and land the vehicle. "On Saturday, if we still have not landed, we will bring up all three sites, this is what we call pick 'em day, and we will target Kennedy Space Center, followed by Edwards Air Force Base and if we need to, we will land at Northrup (in New Mexico). Don't expect that to happen." Here is an updated timeline of key events (in EDT; correcting initial times in backup landing timeline): Rev. 202 Deorbit to KSC EDT...........EVENT 08:49:54 AM...Begin deorbit timeline 09:04:54 AM...Radiators stowed 09:14:54 AM...Mission specialists seat installation 09:20:54 AM...Computers set for deorbit prep 09:24:54 AM...Hydraulic system configuration 09:49:54 AM...Flash evaporator checkout 09:55:54 AM...Final payload deactivation 10:09:54 AM...Payload bay doors closed 10:19:54 AM...Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 software 10:29:54 AM...OPS-3 transition 10:54:54 AM...Entry switch-list verification 11:04:54 AM...Deorbit PAD update 11:09:54 AM...Crew entry review 11:24:54 AM...Commander/pilot don entry suits 11:41:54 AM...IMU alignment 11:49:54 AM...CDR/PLT strap in; mission specialists don suits 12:06:54 PM...Shuttle steering check 12:09:54 PM...APU pre-start 12:16:54 PM...Toilet deactivation 12:24:54 PM...Vent doors closed for entry 12:29:54 PM...Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn 12:35:54 PM...Mission specialists seat ingress 12:44:54 PM...Single APU start 12:49:54 PM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 199 mph; dT: 2:36) 12:52:30 PM...Deorbit burn complete (alt: 212.8 statute miles) 01:23:48 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.5 miles) 01:28:46 PM...1st roll command to left 01:40:25 PM...1st left-to-right roll reversal 01:48:44 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 16.2 miles) 01:50:56 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 9.6 miles) 01:51:54 PM...Shuttle on the HAC (alt: 6.9 miles) 01:55:16 PM...Landing Rev. 203 Deorbit to KSC 02:05:23 PM...MCC 'go' for deorbit burn 02:11:23 PM...MS seat ingress 02:20:23 PM...Single APU start 02:25:23 PM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 201 mph; dT: 2:38) 02:28:01 PM...Deorbit burn complete (alt: 213.8 statute miles) 02:58:41 PM...Entry interface (alt: 75.6 miles) 03:03:37 PM...1st roll command to left 03:14:55 PM...1st left-to-right roll reversal 03:23:35 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (alt: 16.3 miles) 03:25:48 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (alt: 9.5 miles) 03:26:27 PM...Shuttle on the HAC (alt: 7.7 miles) 03:30:07 PM...Landing "I'm always optimistic," Knight said. "I know the forecast right now is no-go, but clearly, weather changes. As we get closer, we get a better handle on the forecast models. When I left console today I briefed my team and said 'come in tomorrow with the mindset to land this vehicle. Because we're landing at the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow.' That's what we're prepared to do. If the weather does not cooperate, we'll keep the vehicle safe and the crew safe and obviously go around a day." Here is a list of all available landing opportunities, at Kennedy (KSC), Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (EDW), and White Sands Space Harbor, N.M. (NOR), from Thursday through Sunday (all times in EDT and mission elapsed time): DAY...EDT.......DD...HH...MM...EVENT 06/21/07 Thu 12:50 PM...12...17...12...KSC: Deorbit on rev 202 Thu 01:55 PM...12...18...17...KSC: Landing Thu 02:25 PM...12...18...47...KSC: Deorbit on rev 203 Thu 03:30 PM...12...19...52...KSC: Landing 06/22/07 Fri 01:14 PM...13...17...36...KSC: Deorbit on rev 218 Fri 02:16 PM...13...18...38...KSC: Landing Fri 02:50 PM...13...19...12...KSC: Deorbit on rev 219 Fri 03:51 PM...13...20...13...KSC: Landing Fri 04:19 PM...13...20...41...EDW: Deorbit on rev 220 Fri 05:21 PM...13...21...43...EDW: Landing Fri 05:55 PM...13...22...17...EDW: Deorbit on rev 221 Fri 06:56 PM...13...23...18...EDW: Landing 06/23/07 Sat 11:59 AM...14...16...21...KSC: Deorbit on rev 233 Sat 01:02 PM...14...17...24...KSC: Landing Sat 01:31 PM...14...17...53...NOR: Deorbit on rev 234 Sat 02:33 PM...14...18...55...NOR: Landing Sat 01:35 PM...14...17...57...KSC: Deorbit on rev 234 Sat 02:37 PM...14...18...59...KSC: Landing Sat 03:05 PM...14...19...27...EDW: Deorbit on rev 235 Sat 04:07 PM...14...20...29...EDW: Landing Sat 03:06 PM...14...19...28...NOR: Deorbit on rev 235 Sat 04:08 PM...14...20...30...NOR: Landing Sat 04:40 PM...14...21...02...EDW: Deorbit on rev 236 Sat 05:42 PM...14...22...04...EDW: Landing Sat 04:43 PM...14...21...05...NOR: Deorbit on rev 236 Sat 05:44 PM...14...22...06...NOR: Landing 06/24/07 Sun 12:20 PM...15...16...42...KSC: Deorbit on rev 249 Sun 01:22 PM...15...17...44...KSC: Landing Sun 01:52 PM...15...18...14...NOR: Deorbit on rev 250 Sun 02:54 PM...15...19...16...NOR: Landing Sun 01:56 PM...15...18...18...KSC: Deorbit on rev 250 Sun 02:58 PM...15...19...20...KSC: Landing Sun 03:26 PM...15...19...48...EDW: Deorbit on rev 251 Sun 04:27 PM...15...20...49...EDW: Landing Sun 03:28 PM...15...19...50...NOR: Deorbit on rev 251 Sun 04:27 PM...15...20...49...NOR: Landing Sun 05:02 PM...15...21...24...EDW: Deorbit on rev 252 Sun 06:03 PM...15...22...25...EDW: Landing
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