Discovery Prepares for Tuesday Landing

From NASA:

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:59:09 PM PDT

At 10:21 p.m., mission control played “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson as the wakeup call for Commander Alan G. Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki.

Space shuttle Discovery’s crew is prepared to return home Tuesday, as mission managers closely monitor weather that could affect their entry and landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The first Kennedy opportunity Tuesday would see a deorbit burn at 5:28 a.m. with a landing at 6:34 a.m. For the second opportunity the deorbit burn at 7:02 a.m. would lead to a landing 8:08 a.m.

For Edwards, the first opportunity deorbit burn would be at 6:56 a.m. with landing at 8:01 a.m. The next would have a deorbit burn at 8:30 a.m. and a landing at 9:35 a.m. while the third would begin with a deorbit burn at 10:05 a.m. leading to a landing at 11:11 a.m.

STS-131 Set to Land Tuesday

After a Monday wave-off of both KSC landings for bad weather, STS-131 has several opportunities to land on Tuesday, starting early in the morning local time.

Weather permitting, Discovery is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center's shuttle landing facility Tuesday at 7:34 a.m., 40 minutes after sunrise. The second landing opportunity at Kennedy is at 9:08 a.m.  Edwards Air Force Base in California is expected to be called up as a possible landing site. The first landing opportunity at Edwards is at 9:01 a.m.

All of the KSC opportunities are on descending paths over much of the continental US, allowing many people an opportunity to see a pretty spectacular re-entry in a dark or early morning sky.  The Edwards opportunities go right down the West Coast, and may do similar.  The rain storm that is moving into California should not affect Edwards in this time frame.

Check web sites for which orbit will actually have a landing.  Also, a table of passes for your US city can be generated by entering orbit number and KSC or EDW somewhere on NASA's site at spaceflight.nasa.gov.

Weather Iffy for Sunday Night STS-130 Landing

NASA:

Weather permitting, Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center's shuttle landing facility at 10:20 p.m. EST. The STS-130 entry team led by Flight Director Norm Knight will be on console in Mission Control at 3:30 p.m. to prepare for deorbit and landing.

The latest Kennedy forecast calls for a chance of showers within 30 nautical miles of the shuttle landing facility and a cloud ceiling at 6,000 feet, both violations of landing rules. The forecast for Edwards Air Force Base in California also contains violations for showers within 30 nautical miles of the runway and cloud ceilings at 3,000 and 6,000 feet. The National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group at Johnson Space Center will provide Knight and his team with continuous updated forecasts and real-time observations to aid in a "go-no go" decision for the deorbit burn.

STS-128 Will Land At EDW Today

NASA has decided upon a landing at Edwards AFB. Deorbit is 2347 UTC, with landing at 0053 UTC. The ground track crosses the California coast near Santa Barbara. There may be sonic booms in the area.

STS-128 First Landing Opp Waved Off

The weather forecast is "no go" today for Friday’s first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If the weather cooperates for the second Kennedy landing opportunity, the deorbit burn would occur at 6:17 p.m. EDT (2217 UTC), with landing at 7:23 p.m. (2323 UTC). Weather does not look good, however.

Since weather for Edwards AFB is OK today but predicted to deteriorate tomorrow, odds are good for an Edwards landing today.

Shuttle Landing On for EDW ~30/2125 UTC

Bad weather forecasts next two days at KSC caused a decision to go with the first Edwards AFB landing option. The Los Angeles City Fire Department is warning people to expect the distinctive sonic booms, since there hasn't been a landing on this track right over L.A. in years:

Please anticipate twin 'sonic booms' across SoCal at 1:20-1:25 PM today due to Space Shuttle Endeavour landing at Edwards AFB. -Brian Humphrey [LAFD Public Service Office] ###