STS-77 Mission Control Center
Status Report #19

Tuesday, May 28, 1996 -- 6 a.m. CDT

Endeavour's flight control system was checked earlier today and
verified in good working order to support a return to Earth tomorrow
at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida or at the Edwards Air Force
Base facility in California, weather permitting.

Shortly after wakeup late last night to the Rolling Stones "Start Me
Up", the six astronauts began cleaning up the orbiter for the trip
home and checked the movable control surfaces on the wings and tail to
verify they are working properly for the atmospheric portion of the
entry.  Consoles in Mission Control were shared through the night by
entry flight controllers preparing messages for the crew related to
landing and also to review weather conditions forecast for landing.

Weather conditions are expected to be favorable for landing tomorrow
in Florida, but a cold front is expected to move into Florida before
Thursday's landing opportunities.  Based on that forecast, and a
deteriorating forecast for California, both sites will be supporting
landing tomorrow.

Two landing opportunities are available at each location Wednesday.
The Florida landing opportunities are at 6:09 a.m. and 7:44
a.m. Central.  The California landing times are 7:36 a.m. and 9:11
a.m. Central.

The entry team will arrive at Mission Control at 11 p.m. to watch over
Endeavour and its crew through the final hours of the STS-77 mission.
The crew will wake up at 9:30 this evening to prepare for the end of
mission.

The JSC newsroom is open 24 hours throughout the STS-77 mission.