Mission Status Center

The Ku-band antenna assembly has retracted back into the payload bay, clearing the way for the doors to be closed on Monday morning for landing.

The astronauts just stowed Discovery's robot arm, all of its duties now complete for STS-131.

Discovery's robotic arm just placed the 50-foot-long inspection boom into its holding fixtures along the starboard wall of the payload bay. The Orbiter Boom Sensor System was used on the second day of the mission to check the heat shield for launch debris impacts and again yesterday to scan for in-space hits from bits of orbital junk or micrometeoroids.

Imagery analysts have reviewed all of the inspection data and determined Discovery is safe to return home.

Yesterday's inspections of Discovery's wing leading edges and nose cap have cleared the space shuttle's heat shield for re-entry. The crew performed the inspections to look for any space debris impacts that could have occurred during the flight.

The Mission Management Team meeting in Houston just reviewed the analysis and formally gave Discovery a clean bill of health.

"You're still good to come back home, the vehicle is in great shape," CAPCOM Steve Swanson just radioed the crew.

"Hey, thanks for that great news, Swanny. We really appreciate it," commander Alan Poindexter replied.

Landing at the Kennedy Space Center to conclude this spaceflight is scheduled for 8:51 a.m. EDT on Monday, with a backup opportunity available an orbit later at 10:26 a.m. EDT.

Check out the re-entry ground tracks: first orbit and second orbit.

But the early weather forecast is not overly promising. Meteorologists are predicting showers around the Florida runway that would prohibit the shuttle's return.

The outlook also includes scattered clouds at 3,000 feet, a broken deck at 10,000 feet and overcast conditions at 25,000 feet, seven miles of visibility, northeasterly winds from 030 degrees of 9 peaking to 13 knots.

Forecasters expect similar weather on Tuesday morning as well.

The backup site at Edwards Air Force Base in California has a "go" weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday, with just some scattered high clouds and light winds the first day, then cloudier skies and brisker winds the second day.

The shuttle is quickly departing the vicinity of the space station following separation burn No. 2 that lasted 13 seconds and produced a 3-foot per second change in velocity.

The astronauts will spend the rest of today getting the Orbiter Boom Sensor System cradled into the payload bay and retracting the Ku-band antenna for landing. They'll begin an 8-hour sleep period at 4:21 p.m. EDT.

Tomorrow's activities include the standard pre-entry checkout of the shuttle's flight controls and steering systems, plus packing up the crew module and stowing away equipment used throughout the mission.

Discovery is climbing high above and behind the station. Now about 2,500 feet away, separating at 4 feet per second.

The shuttle is 1,000 feet from the station and about 21 minutes away from the next engine burn.

Discovery is about 750 feet away from the station now, moving away at just over a foot per second.

The shuttle just performed the first of two separation engine firings. This brief burn changed Discovery's speed by about 1.5 feet per second.

Discovery is back out in front of the International Space Station to complete its full victory lap.

The shuttle is beneath the station now, continuing its circle around the complex.

The shuttle is nearing a point directly behind the station in terms of the direction of travel of the two spacecraft around the Earth, which is known as the -V bar.

Discovery is descending in its loop around the station.

Distance between the two craft has grown to 650 feet.

The shuttle is reaching a point feet directly above the space station.

The flyaround started with the shuttle in front of the station. It takes Discovery to a point directly above the complex, then behind it, looping below and back out in front. After climbing above the station for a second time, the final separation engine firing will be performed. This burn will send Discovery away from the vicinity of the station.

Discovery is 520 feet above from the station now, as the two craft orbit 215 miles above Indiana.

The spacecraft are soaring 216 miles above the Dakotas as Discovery flies 455 feet away from the station.

Pilot Jim Dutton has fired thrusters to begin flying Discovery in a one-lap flyaround of the station.

The shuttle has backed out to the 400-foot mark.

The spacecraft are passing into an orbital sunrise as they near the coast of Canada.

The orbiter's docking system is being powered down, it's job on this mission now complete.

Discovery is just over 350 feet from the station.

Astronaut Jim Dutton is piloting Discovery during today's undocking and victory lap flyaround. In a pre-flight interview, he described what it would be like:

"It's the day I'm really looking forward to. The pilot's big moment of glory is getting to do the flyaround of the space station. So we'll undock, back away around 400 to 450 feet in front of the space station and then begin to fly a maneuver over the top in front of the space station, essentially complete a 360 degree arc around the space station. Then we'll continue to maneuver to essentially break out of our orbit with the station, so we'll get a real panoramic view. As big as the station is now I can't really imagine how breathtaking that will be, getting to see it from every perspective but it's a day I'm really looking forward to."

The two spacecraft are passing over the Pacific, headed for western Canada and an orbital sunrise.

Some 150 feet separate the two craft, opening at 0.27 feet per second.

Now 100 feet of separation with Discovery moving away at 0.25 feet per second.

Discovery is 25 feet from the station as it slowly backs away.

The undocking occurred on time as the two spacecraft flew 217 miles just north of Papua New Guinea.

UNDOCKING! The space shuttle and the International Space Station are parting company after 10 days, 5 hours and 8 minutes of being linked together high above Earth.

Discovery's penultimate trek to the space station brought literally tons of new research equipment, life-supporting provisions and spare hardware to stock the shelves of the orbiting outpost. Spacewalkers also exchanged a massive external ammonia tank to replenish the coolant reserves for the thermal control plumbing.

Discovery is due home at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday morning, weather permitting. Two landing opportunities will be available on back-to-back orbits for touchdown at either 8:51 a.m. or 10:26 a.m. EDT on Runway 15.

Check out the re-entry ground tracks: first orbit and second orbit.

Hooks and latches are driving open.

Five minutes from undocking. The steering jets on Discovery are inhibited for the period of physical undocking from the station. The separation occurs when large springs push the two craft apart. Once the shuttle is a couple feet away from the station and the docking devices are clear of one another, pilot Jim Dutton will fire Discovery's thrusters to continue the movement away.

The spacecraft are passing over Australia. The undocking will occur in orbital darkness but the later flyaround of the station by Discovery will take place in daylight.

Both the shuttle and station flight control teams report all systems are ready for the undocking at 8:52 a.m. EDT. Discovery's guidance system was aligned this morning, the station's giant solar arrays have been positioned to protect them from shuttle thruster plumes and the entire shuttle/station complex was reoriented to the proper attitude for undocking.

Discovery commander Alan Poindexter previews today's undocking of the shuttle from the space station:

"Jim Dutton will get his opportunity to fly the space shuttle for the first time so we're really looking forward to that day. Jim will be on the aft flight deck of Discovery. I'll be up front in the left seat with Clay Anderson helping me out and making sure that procedures are followed and Jim will be in the back and he'll manually undock the shuttle from the space station and back us out to a distance of about 400 feet. He'll start a 360 degree lap or fly around of the space station and we use that time to get very good high quality, good engineering imagery of the exterior of the space station. It's one of the few opportunities where we'll get to take high powered lenses and examine the outside of the space station for anything that's happened to it since the last shuttle flight."

Throughout the time Discovery has been docked to the space station, the combined stack flew in an orientation with the Russian segment leading the way. This was meant to keep Discovery's heat shield out of the direction of travel. But as undocking approaches, the stack is being turned 180 degrees to enable Discovery to separate and fly out in front of the station, reversing its path to docking nearly 10 days ago.

The docking mechanism in Discovery's payload bay is being powered up.

NASA has released maps showing the path shuttle Discovery will follow over the United States during Monday's re-entry and landing. Check them out: first orbit and second orbit.

The Discovery astronauts bid their station counterparts farewell early Saturday, sharing a final round of hugs and handshakes before moving back aboard the shuttle to prepare the ship for undocking.

Read our full story.

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. M) can be downloaded here.

The station side of the hatchway has been closed, allowing the docking port between the two vehicle to be depressurized.

An alignment of the Discovery's inertial measurement units in the ship's guidance system has been performed, and the crew has checked out its various rendezvous tools before undocking.

Hatch closure was marked at 6:30 a.m. EDT.

The 13 shuttle and station crewmembers are saying their farewells as the Discovery astronauts prepare to float out of the Harmony module and close the hatchway. The shuttle crew will undock their spacecraft about three hours from now.

Undocking day has begun for the space shuttle Discovery astronauts following the 12:21 a.m. EDT wakeup call from Mission Control. The orbiter will separate from the International Space Station at 8:52 a.m. EDT, then begin a one-lap flyaround of the outpost.

Here's the undocking timeline (all times EDT):

EDT........DD...HH...MM...SS...EVENT

04:56 AM...11...22...35...00...Joint crew meal
05:56 AM...11...23...35...00...Farewell ceremony
06:09 AM...11...23...48...00...Sunrise
06:11 AM...11...23...50...00...Rendezvous tools checkout
06:11 AM...11...23...50...00...Hatches closed
06:37 AM...12...00...16...06...Noon
06:41 AM...12...00...20...00...Docking system leak checks
06:51 AM...12...00...30...00...Centerline camera install
07:05 AM...12...00...44...11...Sunset
07:11 AM...12...00...50...00...Group B computer powerup
07:16 AM...12...00...54...35...US arrays in undock config
07:36 AM...12...01...14...35...Maneuver to undock attitude
07:40 AM...12...01...19...26...Sunrise
08:06 AM...12...01...44...35...Maneuver complete
08:08 AM...12...01...47...32...Noon
08:36 AM...12...02...14...35...ISS Ku antenna park complete
08:37 AM...12...02...15...37...Sunset

08:52 AM...12...02...31...00...UNDOCKING

08:52 AM...12...02...31...05...Maintain corridor 
08:53 AM...12...02...32...00...Initial separation
08:54 AM...12...02...32...40...ISS holds current attitude
08:57 AM...12...02...36...00...50 ft
08:59 AM...12...02...38...00...75 ft
09:12 AM...12...02...50...51...Sunrise
09:20 AM...12...02...58...35...ISS Ku band un-park
09:21 AM...12...03...00...00...400 ft; start flyaround
09:30 AM...12...03...09...30...600 feet
09:32 AM...12...03...11...30...Shuttle directly above ISS
09:40 AM...12...03...18...58...Noon
09:44 AM...12...03...23...00...Shuttle directly behind ISS
09:55 AM...12...03...34...30...Shuttle directly below ISS
10:07 AM...12...03...46...00...Shuttle directly ahead ISS
10:07 AM...12...03...46...00...Separation burn
10:08 AM...12...03...47...05...Sunset
10:35 AM...12...04...14...00...Separation burn 2 
10:36 AM...12...04...15...00...Group B computer powerdown
10:40 AM...12...04...18...35...US solar arrays unlocked
11:30 AM...12...05...09...00...Mission status briefing
11:56 AM...12...05...35...00...EVA unpack and stow
12:41 PM...12...06...20...00...OBSS stow
01:56 PM...12...07...35...00...Ku antenna stow
02:00 PM...12...07...39...00...Post-MMT briefing on NTV
03:21 PM...12...09...00...00...ISS crew sleep begins
04:21 PM...12...10...00...00...STS crew sleep begins
05:00 PM...12...10...39...00...Daily highlights reel on NTV

Read our earlier status center coverage.