KSC-95EC-1058 - STS-70 landing drag chute deploy 


  The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery deploys its drag chute after a
smooth touchdown on KSC's Runway 33, marking a successful conclusion
to the STS-70 mission. Discovery landed on orbit 143, during the
second opportunity of the day. Main gear touchdown was unofficially
listed at 8:02 a.m. EDT on July 22, 1995. The orbiter traveled some
3.7 million statute miles during the nearly nine-day flight, which
included a one-day extension because of fog and low visibility
conditions at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility on July 21. STS-70 was
the 24th landing at KSC and the 70th Space Shuttle mission. The
five-member crew deployed a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-G
(TDRS-G). Crew members were Commander Terence "Tom" Henricks, Pilot
Kevin R. Kregel, and Mission Specialists Nancy Jane Currie, Donald
A. Thomas and Mary Ellen Weber. STS-70 also was the maiden flight of
the new Block I orbiter main engine, which flew in the number one
position. The other two engines were of the existing Phase II design.


 
                                               7/22/95