STS-69 Day 10 Highlights

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On Sunday, September 17, 1995, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 20 reports:

Endeavour's astronauts tested their ship's systems and packed up the Orbiter for their trip home tomorrow to complete the fifth Shuttle mission of the year.

With all of the mission's objectives completed, Commander Dave Walker and Pilot Ken Cockrell fired up one of Endeavour's hydraulic power units and conducted a thorough checkout of the Shuttle's flight control systems to insure that the Orbiter is in top shape for tomorrow's high-speed return to Earth. Walker and Cockrell also tested the Shuttle's reaction control system jets as part of the standard pre-landing inspection of key Shuttle components.

With that out of the way, the astronauts reviewed their entry and landing checklists and began to pack up their gear aboard Endeavour, deactivating secondary experiments and stowing the cabin for landing.

The preliminary weather forecast for landing calls for acceptable weather for Endeavour's homecoming at the prime landing site at the Kennedy Space Center. The backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base will not be called up for support. There are two landing opportunities available tomorrow in Florida, the first calling for a deorbit burn at 6:35 AM Eastern time, leading to a landing at 7:38 AM Eastern time.

Early in the morning, astronauts Jim Voss and Mike Gernhardt, who successfully conducted a lengthy spacewalk on 9/16/95, turned to repair chores, freeing up a blocked waste water dump line through a plan developed by flight controllers in Mission Control. The in-flight maintenance procedure cleared the way for a dump of accumulated waste water aboard Endeavour.

On Sunday, September 17, 1995, 1 p.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 21 reports:

Endeavour and its five astronauts are ready for their return trip to Earth, concluding a voyage of about 4.5 million miles.

The crew spent much of its day packing up equipment and checklists used during 10 days of on-orbit activity. The astronauts also transferred some of the accumulated waste water onboard Endeavour into a contingency water container when attempts to free up a blocked waste water dump line were unsuccessful.

The five member crew -- Commander Dave Walker, Pilot Ken Cockrell and Mission Specialists Jim Voss, Jim Newman and Mike Gernhardt -- will receive a wake-up call from Mission Control at 10:09 p.m. Central to begin final preparations for Endeavour's reentry and landing at the Kennedy Space Center.

Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Central the crew will begin its deorbit preparations and at 2:49 a.m., Endeavour's payload bay doors will be closed. There are two landing opportunities available tomorrow, both to the Kennedy Space Center. The first opportunity calls for a deorbit burn at 5:35 a.m., with a landing on Runway 33 at 6:38 a.m. Central. The second landing opportunity comes one orbit later, with Endeavour's orbital maneuvering system jets being fired for the deorbit burn at 7:12 a.m., resulting in a landing at 8:15 a.m. Central.

The preliminary weather forecast for Monday's landing calls for acceptable weather at the Kennedy Space Center.in Florida with scattered clouds, light winds from the northwest and only a slight chance of early-morning ground fog. The backup landing site at California's Edwards Air Force Base will not be called up to support tomorrow's landing.

Endeavour continues to circle the Earth every 91 minutes at an altitude of 214 statute miles.

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