MISSION CONTROL CENTER
STS-67 Status Report # 21

Sunday, March 12, 5 PM CST


Endeavour's astronauts blended astronomical observations with a little
relaxation today as their research flight proceeded in fine fashion in
the 11th day of the ASTRO-2 mission.

The Red team, Commander Steve Oswald, Pilot Bill Gregory, Mission
Specialist John Grunsfeld and Payload Specialist Ron Parise acquired
more celestial targets with the trio of ASTRO-2 telescopes and gather
additional engineering data from the Middeck Active Control Experiment
as Endeavour sailed flawlessly toward the homestretch of what is
expected to be a Shuttle-record 15 and a half day research flight.

Both Grunsfeld and Parise enjoyed a few hours off to relax before
heading into the final days of the mission, trading places on the aft
flight deck to operate the Instrument Pointing System and the
telescopes while the other took a break from research duties.

Gregory used Endeavour's ham radio gear to talk to students at the
J.J. Fray Elementary School in Rustburg, Virginia and the crew
continued to respond to questions about their mission and spaceflight
in general placed on the Internet and faxed up to the Shuttle by
flight controllers.

Endeavour is circling the Earth every 91 minutes at an altitude of
about 195 nautical miles with all of its systems in excellent shape.

The JSC Newsroom is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, and from 9
a.m.-1 p.m.weekends, throughout the mission. NASA's MSFC Newsroom is
open from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, and from 6 a.m.-2
p.m. weekends. MSFC's Code-a-Phone is updated twice daily and can be
reached by calling 205-544-6397.