Live at KSC: Atlantis heads toward homecoming

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Shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts now are in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, experiencing the tug of Earth's gravity as the ship races toward a 9:07 a.m. landing on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center.

The astronauts passed through the entry interface point at about 400,000 feet in altitude as the spaceship soared high above the south Pacific Ocean.

Atlantis is about to start a series of sweeping S-curves to disappate speed as the ship crosses central America and then heads out over the Gulf of Mexico. The spaceship will make landfall over Florida over Fort Myers and those on the Space Coast should hear the shuttle's trademark twin sonic booms a few minutes before touchdown.

You can watch the action unfold here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the link below the images above to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage of the Atlantis landing.