With Atlantis circling in an orbit about 185 miles above Earth, the astronauts are setting up spaceship systems in advance of planned 9:07 a.m. EST landing on Runway 33 at the shuttle's coastal Florida homeport.
The crew is scheduled to close the shuttle's payload bay doors around 5:20 a.m. and a "go/no-go" decision on the first of two landing opportunities at KSC today is expected between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
Take a look at the crew's detailed entry checklist here: EntryCheckList.pdf.
And the crew's detailed timeline and landing plan is here: Entry_PAO_Execute_Package.pdf.
At the storied Mission Control Center in Houston, NASA lead flight director Bryan Lunney has just received the first detailed weather forecast of the day from the Spaceflight Meteorology Group at Johnson Space Center.
The forecast basically remains the same. Clear skies and light winds are expected at KSC for the first landing opportunity. A cold front swept through central Florida Tuesday, leaving a high-pressure system behind it. Scattered clouds are forecast at 8,000 and 30,000 feet, and crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility are expected to be about 7 knots -- conditions that are well within limits.
The skies over KSC at this hour are dark, clear and starry.
NASA Chief Astronaut Steve Lindsey is preparing to fly a weather reconnaissance mission over the central Florida area. He'll board a Gulfstream II that has been modified to mimic the shuttle's steep drop to the runway, and he'll also fly approaches to the landing strip to check out conditions.
The shuttle landing would come on Atlantis' 202nd orbit of Earth. Here's a look at the long-range ground track:
Here's the mid-range ground track:
And the short-range ground track:
You can click to enlarge and save all three of them.
You can also watch the action unfold right here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the link below the images above to launch our NASA TV viewer and round-the-clock coverage of STS-122.
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