STS-72 Mission Status Report #11
Mission Control Center

Friday, January 19, 6 a.m. CST

With all mission objectives accomplished, Endeavour's astronauts
packed up their ship for its return trip back to Earth on
Saturday. Endeavour is scheduled for a 1:42 a.m. landing at the
Kennedy Space Center.

Two landing opportunities are available Saturday at the Kennedy Space
Center for Endeavour's homecoming. The first calls for a firing of
Endeavour's braking rockets at 12:41 a.m. Saturday resulting in a
1:42 a.m. touchdown on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility. The
second landing opportunity is about one hour and a half later.
Weather conditions are predicted to be acceptable to support landing
in Florida.

The crew's sleep period lasts from 9:11 a.m. to 5:11 p.m., when the
astronauts will be awakened to begin deorbit preparations. Endeavour's
cargo bay doors are scheduled to be closed about 10 p.m.

In preparation for tomorrow's return home, Commander Brian Duffy
and Pilot Brent Jett tested Endeavour's flight control systems and
aerosurfaces by activating one of three hydraulic power units.  Duffy
also cycled the ship's rudder, speed brake and elevons and
test-fired the Shuttle's 44 steering jets to validate their
health. Two of the jets failed, but will have no impact on the landing
since redundant jets will be selected to perform the same function.

Duffy conducted communications checks with ground support sites in
California and Florida as crewmates Leroy Chiao, Winston Scott, Koichi
Wakata and Dan Barry stowed cabin gear and spacewalk hardware which
was used during the two spacewalks conducted during the mission.

Earlier, the astronauts participated in a crew news conference, which
featured questions from U.S. and Japanese reporters at the Kennedy
Space Center and the Johnson Space Center.

Endeavour is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 192
statute miles with all of its systems functioning normally as the
Shuttle heads for the end of a 3.7 million mile mission.

The JSC newsroom will close at 5 p.m. and will reopen at 10 p.m. to
support landing. The next status report will be issued after Endeavour
completes its flight.

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