|
NASA waves off first Florida shuttle landing try
2006-12-22
NASA opted not to bring down the space shuttle Discovery on a first Florida landing attempt due to bad weather conditions, the space agency announced. The US space agency left open the possibility that after another 90 minutes conditions will have changed to allow a descent to Florida's Kennedy Space Center. If not, the shuttle can still possibly land at one of two other sites Friday: Edwards Air Force Base in California and the White Sands test facility in New Mexico. Astronauts aboard the Discovery closed the space shuttle's bay earlier Friday, the last main operation necessary ahead of quitting orbit to descend toward Earth at the end of a 13-day mission. The first targetted Florida landing time was 2056 GMT. The later time of 2232 GMT remains possible, and there are five possible landing times still available at the other two sites. A landing in the southwestern state of New Mexico or in California would mean NASA would then have to fly the shuttle to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the back of a modified Boeing 747, at the cost of some 1.7 million dollars. The shuttle landed only once before at White Sands, in March 1982. NASA officials are reluctant to use the landing strip because of desert sand blowing in the area. NASA can make a decision up to 65 minutes ahead of the landing time, to order Discovery to leave orbit. The shuttle will then begin its descent into the Earth's atmosphere, plunging at more than 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) an hour. The shuttle must land Saturday at the latest, because it has just enough electrical power supplies to support it through then. The landing will bring to an end a mission which significantly moved ahead construction of the International Space Station. The Discovery team spent eight days at the station, rewiring it and attaching a massive truss. The crew also added a day and an extra space walk Monday to shake loose a solar panel array that had gotten stuck as it was folding. Earlier Friday officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration woke of Discovery's crew to the song "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays," to begin preparations for the return to Earth. "Good morning, Discovery," mission control in Houston, Texas said to the seven crew members after their 1222 GMT musical wake-up call. "We hope you agree with us that 'There's no place like home for the holidays,' because we hope to see you back here on Earth later this afternoon." "We can't agree more," replied Commander Mark Polansky. NASA
| 
