STS-79 Mission Control Center
Status Report #20

Wednesday, September 25, 1996, 5 p.m. CDT

The crew aboard Atlantis spent the day stowing equipment and
deactivating experiments in preparation for tomorrow's planned landing
at 7:13 a.m. central time at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

All systems aboard the orbiter were checked out overnight in preparation
for landing day, including testing the flight control surfaces and
thruster jets that will be used to maneuver the spacecraft through the
atmosphere.

The weather forecast in Florida appears to be favorable, with scattered
clouds and light winds forecast for the first of two landing
opportunities there. The second opportunity is forecast to have slightly
increasing winds. That second landing opportunity is at 8:49 a.m. There
are three landing opportunities available at the backup landing site at
California's Edwards Air Force Base, where landing support will be in
place, if needed. Because Atlantis is coming home with only two
operational auxiliary power units, more restrictive weather criteria
will be in effect. Crosswinds will be required to be 10 knots or less,
with ceilings above 10,000 feet and visibility greater than 7 miles.

Atlantis' astronauts are scheduled to wakeup at 9:54 this evening to
begin final preparations for landing. With a landing tomorrow, the
astronauts are scheduled to return to Houston on Friday afternoon.

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