MISSION CONTROL CENTER
STS-70 Status Report #15

Thursday, July 20, 1995, 5 p.m. CDT

  With their experiments stowed and the orbiter prepared for landing,
Discovery's five crew members are ready to come home Friday and
conclude their successful eight-day mission.

  The STS-70 crew has two opportunities to land at the Kennedy Space
Center on Friday.  For the first opportunity, Discovery's orbital
maneuvering system engines would be fired for the deorbit burn at 5:53
a.m. CDT, resulting in a touchdown in Florida at 6:54 a.m.  CDT. The
deorbit burn for the second opportunity would occur at 7:28 a.m. CDT,
with landing at 8:31 a.m. CDT. The weather predictions do look
favorable, but forecasters will be watching for the formation of
scattered cloud layers and ground fog that could hinder landing
operations.

  The crew began its eight-hour sleep shift at 2:42 p.m. CDT, and will
awaken at 10:42 p.m.  CDT.

-end-