STS-92 Day 12 Highlights

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On Sunday, October 22, 2000, 6:00 a.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 22 reports:

The STS-92 astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Discovery are preparing for their return to Earth with a planned touchdown on the 3-mile long Shuttle Landing Facility runway at the Kennedy Space Center.at 1:14 p.m. CDT, weather permitting.

A high pressure system sitting over the eastern seaboard is expected to produce windy conditions that could result in cross winds in excess of acceptable limits at the time of today^Òs planned landing. Mission managers will closely watch weather conditions in Florida today, working with the Spaceflight Meteorology Group in Houston and complemented by real-time weather observations by Chief Astronaut Charlie Precourt flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft at the landing site.

The crew was awakened at 5:17 a.m. today to begin landing preparations to the sounds of the U.S. Air Force theme ^ÓOff We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder.^Ô Mission Commander ^Ö and Air Force Colonel ^Ö Brian Duffy quickly responded that ^ÓYou had a couple of us standing and singing up here looking out the window, looking at the wild blue yonder and hoping to enter it today.^Ô

If weather conditions permit and the crew is given a ^Ógo^Ô to begin their deorbit preparations, they will close Discovery^Òs payload bay doors at 9:27 a.m., the crew will put on their pressurized launch and entry suits and strap into their seats just after 11 a.m. Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain is expected to poll the flight control team for the final decision for the de-orbit burn 20 minutes prior to the planned firing of Discovery^Òs orbital maneuvering system engines at 12:07 p.m. which will set the STS-92 crew up for a landing at KSC at 1:14 p.m. CDT. There is a back up landing opportunity one orbit later if needed. The second opportunity would involve a de-orbit burn at 1:43 p.m. and landing at 2:50 p.m. CDT.

For a landing on that first opportunity, at the time of the de-orbit burn, Discovery will be above the Indian Ocean, passing over the northern portion of Sumatra. The burn will last just under 3 ½ minutes and the change in velocity will cause Discovery to fall out of orbit and begin the trip home. A little more than 35 minutes later, while flying over the Pacific Ocean, South of Easter Island, the vehicle will begin to encounter the upper portions of Earth^Òs atmosphere in the portion of the flight known as entry interface. With the Shuttle^Òs speed still above Mach 25, temperatures outside the vehicle will quickly climb near 3,000 degrees F.

The final portion of Discovery^Òs flight path will see the Shuttle pass over Central America along the Honduras-Nicaragua border, the western portion of the Caribbean Sea, the western most portion of Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico before crossing the Florida coastline, flying over the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee before arriving on the east coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral.

As Discovery reaches the vicinity of Kennedy Space Center. Commander Brian Duffy will take over manual control of the Shuttle. He will execute a 223-degree turn to line Discovery up for a final approach to runway 1-5 at KSC^Òs Shuttle Landing Facility.

If all goes as planned and Discovery touches down on the 3 mile long runway at 1:14 p.m., it will have traveled approximately 4.5 million miles over 11 days, bringing to an end the 100th mission in Shuttle program history.

The next status report will be issued following Discovery^Òs landing at KSC or following a decision to wave-off today^Òs landing opportunity.

On Sunday, October 22, 2000, 12:00 p.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 23 reports:

Discovery^Òs astronauts will remain in space at least one more day as high winds at the landing site forestalled today^Òs return to the Kennedy Space Center.

After carefully watching cross winds at the Shuttle Landing Facility and receiving real-time observations from Chief Astronaut Charlie Precourt flying weather reconnaissance in Florida, entry flight director Leroy Cain decided to wave-off today^Òs two opportunities to bring the crew home.

Weather conditions at KSC are not expected to improve over the next two days as a high-pressure system over the eastern seaboard is expected to remain in place producing windy conditions, possible low cloud decks, and rain in the vicinity of the shuttle^Òs Shuttle Landing Facility runway. There are two opportunities to land Monday at KSC or at the West Coast landing site at Edwards Air Force Base. Weather conditions in California are expected to improve over the course of the next two days, while KSC^Òs weather is expected to remain the same or degrade further.

There are two landing opportunities tomorrow in Florida and three in California. The second KSC and first Edwards opportunities are on the same orbit, six minutes apart. The first landing opportunity ^Ö to KSC ^Ö would see a deorbit burn of Discovery^Òs orbital maneuvering system engines at 12:44 p.m. with landing to follow at 1:51 p.m. The second opportunity is one orbit later with a 2:21 p.m. deorbit burn resulting in a landing at 3:28 p.m.

The first of the day^Òs opportunities to Edwards Air Force Base would see a deorbit burn at 2:18 p.m. with landing at 3:22 p.m. The second would have Discovery^Òs deorbit burn take place at 3:51 p.m. with landing at 4:58 p.m. and the final opportunity one orbit later with an engine firing at 5:28 p.m. resulting in a landing at 6:34 p.m.

It is highly unlikely that the crew would be asked to remain suited up for reentry for multiple landing opportunities. A reentry strategy will be developed overnight and through the morning tomorrow to take best advantage of landing conditions at the two sites.

Discovery^Òs crew will go to bed tonight shortly after nine and be awakened tomorrow at 5:17 a.m. to once again begin preparations for a return trip home.

The next status report will be issued at 7 p.m. today or as events warrant.

On Sunday, October 22, 2000, 7:00 p.m. CDT, STS-92 MCC Status Report # 24 reports:

Discovery's astronauts prepared for a Monday landing after high crosswinds at Kennedy Space Center.caused a delay of at least one day in their return to Earth and the end of their successful mission to expand the International Space Station and ready it for its first crew.

Discovery has two landing opportunities Monday at KSC, where the weather is expected to be questionable, and three at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The second KSC and first Edwards opportunities are on the same orbit, six minutes apart. Edwards will be activated for a possible Monday landing, but weather there is expected to be marginal. Weather conditions at KSC are not expected to improve over the next two days, while improvement in California is forecast.

For the first Monday landing opportunity - to KSC - Discovery would fire its orbital maneuvering system engines at 12:43 p.m. CDT to begin its descent from orbit, with landing to follow at 1:51 p.m. The second Florida opportunity is one orbit later with a 2:21 p.m. deorbit burn resulting in a landing at 3:28 p.m.

The first opportunity to Edwards would see a deorbit burn at 2:15 p.m. CDT with landing at 3:23 p.m. The second would have Discovery's deorbit burn take place at 3:51 p.m. with landing at 4:58 p.m. and the final opportunity one orbit later with an engine firing at 5:29 p.m. and landing at 6:35 p.m.

Flight controllers in Houston will work through Monday morning to develop a landing plan based on conditions at the two sites.

After "deorbit backout" -- undoing their preparation to come home on Sunday -- the crew spent much of the afternoon relaxing and communicating with their families via computer. STS-92 Mission Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pam Melroy and Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, Bill McArthur, Mike Lopez-Alegria, Jeff Wisoff and Koichi Wakata, are scheduled to go to bed tonight shortly after 9 p.m. and be awakened at 5:17 a.m. Monday.

The International Space Station, from which Discovery undocked Friday, continued to function well. The station flight control room in the Mission Control Center continued to monitor systems on board. They watched and commanded heaters on the huge gyroscopes on the newly installed Z1 truss. The gyros will provide attitude control for the ISS, and the heaters are designed to protect them from damage by the cold of space.

The station trails Discovery by 248 statute miles. The distance is increasing by 5.4 miles each 90-minute orbit of the Earth.

The next status report will be issued at 6 a.m. Monday or as events warrant.

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