STS-92 Day 11 Highlights
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- On Saturday, October 21, 2000, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 20
reports:
- Following their departure from the International Space Station
yester day morning, Discovery^Òs seven astronauts will now spend a
day stowing equipment and checking the Space Shuttle systems that
support re-entry and landing in preparation for a return to Kennedy
Space Center on Sunday afternoon.
- STS-92 Mission Commander Brian Duffy along with Pilot Pam Melroy and
Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, Bill McArthur, Mike Lopez-Alegria,
Jeff Wisoff and Koichi Wakata were awakened at 5:17 a.m. today to
begin what should be their final full day in orbit. This
morning^Òs wake-up song was ^ÓSaturday Night^Ô by The Bay
City Rollers played for the entire crew,
- Later this morning Duffy, Melroy and McArthur will test the systems
that will be used during the return home to Kennedy Space Center.to
ensure that equipment remains in good condition. Just after 9 a.m.,
they will test the flight control systems that maneuver the shuttle
once it re-enters the atmosphere and begins to operate like an
airplane. A little over one hour later, at 10:12 a.m., a test fire of
all 44 thruster jets on Discovery will be performed to verify they are
in good working order.
- Shortly before the orbiter flight control system checks are started,
Chiao and Wisoff will begin stowing the equipment used by the STS-92
crew over the last ten days. Throughout the day, all of the crew
members will be involved with helping to stow away items in
preparation for Sunday^Òs landing at KSC.
- Discovery^Òs astronauts will conduct a crew news conference
beginning at 2:17 p.m. today, discussing their mission with U.S. and
Japanese media. The crew also will get some off duty time near the
end of the day before beginning a planned eight hour sleep period at
9:17 p.m.
- Discovery remains in excellent operating condition, as does the
International Space Station, now more than 100 statute miles behind
the Shuttle. For a touchdown in Florida at 1:14 p.m. CDT on Sunday,
Discovery^Òs orbital maneuvering system engines would be fired to
begin a descent at 12:07 p.m. A second opportunity also exists for a
landing in Florida on the next orbit. The second opportunity would
have the deorbit burn taking place at 1:43 p.m. and Discovery touching
down on the 3-mile-long runway at KSC at 2:50 p.m.
- The next mission status report will be issued at 6 p.m. or sooner as
events warrant.
- On Saturday, October 21, 2000, 6:00 p.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 21
reports:
- Discovery's seven astronauts tested reaction control system
thrusters that will properly orient the spacecraft as it begins its
descent toward a landing scheduled for 1:14 p.m. CDT Sunday at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. They also tested flight surface controls that
will be used to fly the orbiter like an airplane once it enters the
atmosphere.
- STS-92 Mission Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission
Specialists Leroy Chiao, Bill McArthur, Mike Lopez-Alegria, Jeff
Wisoff and Koichi Wakata spent much of the day converting Discovery
from an orbiting spacecraft to a re-entry vehicle. They took time out
from the testing and stowage activity during their last full day in
orbit for a 25-minute news conference with U.S. reporters at Johnson
Space Center and Kennedy Space Center. and then spent 20 minutes
talking with Japanese reporters at Johnson Space Center on Saturday
afternoon.
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- The crew also took some time off near the end of their day before
beginning an eight hour sleep period at 9:17 p.m.
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- Discovery has two landing opportunities Sunday at Kennedy Space
Center's 3-mile-long runway. The first, on Discovery's orbit 169,
would see a deorbit burn at 12:07 p.m. CDT for the 1:14 p.m. landing.
Discovery's track would take it northeastward across the eastern
Pacific Ocean, across Nicaragua and Honduras, over western Cuba and up
the Florida Peninsula to the landing site.
- The second opportunity is on the subsequent orbit. It would see a
deorbit burn at 1:43 p.m. with a landing at 2:50 p.m. That ground
track would take Discover across Mexico's Pacific Coast and across the
northwestern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, across the eastern Gulf of
Mexico and across Florida to Kennedy Space Center.
- Forecasters are looking carefully at Sunday weather at the Cape.
The main concern is over the possibility of crosswinds gusting too
fast over Runway 15.
- Discovery continues to function well, as does the International
Space Station from which it undocked Friday morning. Discovery is
about 160 statute miles ahead of the station and increasing that
distance by just over 6 miles each 90-minute orbit.
- The next mission status report will be issued at 6 a.m. or sooner if
events warrant.
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