STS-82 Day 11 Highlights

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On Friday, February 21, 1997, 3:00 a.m. CST, STS-82 MCC Status Report # 21 reports:

Commander Ken Bowersox and Pilot Scott Horowitz guided the Shuttle Discovery to a night landing at the Kennedy Space Center.in the predawn darkness this morning, setting the orbiter down at 2:32 a.m. Central time to wrap up a 4.1 million mile mission to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope. It was the ninth night landing in Shuttle program history, the fourth at the Florida spaceport.

After the first landing opportunity of the day at the Kennedy Space Center was waved off because of low clouds over the Shuttle Landing Facility, the weather cleared and the green light was given to permit the seven astronauts to return home. The landing was the sixth straight at the Kennedy Space Center.and the 13th in the last 14 flights.

Discovery swooped out of the nighttime darkness and landed at the 3-mile long landing strip at KSC, which had additional illumination available through the recent installation of 52 halogen lights positioned every 200 feet down the centerline of the runway.

Left in orbit was the 12-ton Hubble Space Telescope, equipped with two new scientific instruments and other upgraded engineering hardware for enhanced performance until another crew of astronauts returns to the observatory in late 1999 for its third servicing. Hubble is expected to resume scientific observations in several weeks after its new equipment is calibrated.

Discovery's astronauts are expected to return to Ellington Field in Houston for a welcome home ceremony at about Noon Central time. Please check with the JSC newsroom at 483-5111 after 9 a.m. for further information.

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