STS-99 Day 11 Highlights

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On Monday, February 21, 2000, 10:30 a.m. CST, STS-99 MCC Status Report # 21 reports:

Endeavour's astronauts finished their successful Shuttle Radar Topography Mission mapping operations early Monday, then retracted the system's 200-foot mast into its payload bay canister. The mast, the longest rigid structure ever deployed in space, supported the external antenna structure during more than 222 hours of data gathering that mapped almost 100 percent of all planned sites around the world.

The mast folded smoothly into its nine-foot-long canister in Endeavour's payload bay during the 18 minute retraction operation that astronauts began at 7:17 a.m. Central Time. The crew flipped the outboard antenna structure over to its stowed position, then began retracting the mast itself. As each of the 86 bays of the mast entered the canister, the bay's corners were captured in spiraling grooves inside the canister, much like those in a rifle barrel.

Completion of the final portion of stowing the SRTM mast was delayed when the three latches on the lid of the mast canister failed to engage as expected. Suspecting that the cold thermal temperatures the mast experienced while deployed were reducing the flexibility of the system, flight controllers had the astronauts work procedures to warm up the mast canister while increasing the torque pull of the canister motors. The efforts of Endeavour's crew and Mission Control were rewarded at 9:50 a.m. Central time when all three latches on the mast canister closed, securing the SRTM payload for the ride home to Earth.

Radar data gathering concluded at 5:54 a.m. after a final sweep across Australia. During 222 hours and 23 minutes of mapping, Endeavour's radar images filled 332 high density tapes and covered 99.98 percent of the planned mapping area - land between 60 degrees north latitude and 56 degrees south latitude - at least once and 94.6 percent of it twice. Only about 80,000 square miles in scattered areas remained unimaged, most of them in North America and most already well mapped by other methods. Enough data were gathered to fill the equivalent of 20,000 CD's.

The EarthKAM, a digital camera mounted at an overhead window on Endeavour's flight deck, has been shut down for the remainder of the flight, after sending to Earth about 2,600 digital images of the planet's surface. On four previous shuttle flights EarthKAM sent down a total of 2,018 images. Later today, Endeavour's crew will turn its attention to returning home. Check out of the flight control surfaces and orbiter thruster jets is scheduled to begin at noon. After the orbiter systems checks are complete, the crew will begin stowing the cabin for tomorrow's return to the Kennedy Space Center.with landing scheduled for 3:50 p.m. Central Time Tuesday.

On Monday, February 21, 2000, 6:00 p.m. CST, STS-99 MCC Status Report # 22 reports:

With mapping operations complete and Endeavour's radar mapping hardware stowed, astronauts today conducted checks of various flight control surfaces and thruster jets in preparation for tomorrow's return to Earth.

After wrapping up mapping operations at 5:54 a.m. Central time today with a final pass over Australia, Endeavour's crew retracted the 200-foot mast into its payload bay canister. The mast, the longest rigid structure ever deployed in space, supported the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission's external antenna structure during more than 222 hours of data gathering.

Mast retraction proceeded smoothly as each of its 87 external sections, or bays, folded into the nine-foot-long canister during the 18-minute retraction procedure. Final mast stowage was delayed when the three latches on the lid of the mast canister failed to engage as expected. The first two efforts failed to secure the latches, but the third attempt succeeded and all three latches on the mast canister were activated at 9:50 a.m. Central time.

The SRTM mapped almost 100 percent of all planned sites around the world, a total area of more than 47.6 million square miles. The area mapped four times represents more than twice the area of the United States. SRTM project scientist Dr. Mike Kobrick called SRTM "a truly outstanding achievement." New images released today showed Fiji; the San Francisco Bay area; Pasadena, CA; the San Andreas Fault near Palmdale, CA; and an animated fly-around from Pasadena to Palmdale along the San Andreas Fault.

This afternoon, Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dom Gorie and flight engineer Janet Kavandi tested Endeavour's flight control surfaces and reaction control system thrusters. Deactivation and stowage of radar mapping hardware and the Ku antenna were completed, and members of the Red Team - Kregel, Kavandi and Gerhard Thiele - began cabin stowage. The Blue Team - Gorie, payload commander Janice Voss and Japanese astronaut Mamoru Mohri - will complete stowage tomorrow morning. The Blue Team began its sleep period at 5:44 p.m., and will be awakened at 1:14 a.m. Tuesday.

There are three landing opportunities available tomorrow, two at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the third at Edwards, CA. The first opportunity would bring Endeavour back to KSC at 3:50 p.m. Central. There is another opportunity one orbit later, with a KSC landing at 5:22 p.m. Central. The third opportunity would see Endeavour land at Edwards at 6:48 p.m. Central time. The previous 20 shuttle missions have ended with landings at KSC. The last Edwards landing was STS-76 in March 1996. The primary concerns for a KSC landing are strong crosswinds and a low layer of clouds. Weather conditions at KSC are not expected to improve Wednesday or Thursday, and are expected to deteriorate at Edwards after Tuesday.

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