MISSION CONTROL CENTER
STS-71 Status Report #20

Friday, July 7, 1995  6:30 a.m. CDT

The crew on board Atlantis is preparing to end its historic mission
with a 9:55 a.m. central time landing today at the Kennedy Space
Center.

With weather conditions in Florida expected to be acceptable at
landing time, Commander Hoot Gibson transitioned to the deorbit
activities timeline shortly before 5 a.m. central with work to
configure the crew cabin for reentry well under way.

On board, the crew members have closed and secured the airlock
connecting the crew compartment to the orbiter docking mechanism and
Spacelab module housed in Atlantis' payload bay. Deactivation of the
Spacelab module is complete, as is installation of seats on the flight
deck that will be occupied by Mission Specialists Ellen Baker and Greg
Harbaugh on reentry.

There are two opportunities for a landing at KSC this morning.  The
first opportunity begins with a deorbit burn at 8:45 a.m., with
Atlantis touching down at 9:55 a.m. The second opportunity comes one
orbit later with a 10:22 a.m. engine firing resulting in an 11:31
a.m. landing.

The eight astronauts and cosmonauts began what should be their final
day on orbit at 1:32 a.m. with a wake-up call from Mission Control. In
recognition of their journey -- which began March 14 in Kazakhastan,
the crew awakened this morning to Supertramp's "Take the Long Way
Home."

All systems on board Atlantis continue in excellent shape as the
orbiter circles the Earth every 92 minues in a 216 by 208 nautical
mile orbit.

-end-