Endeavour Aims For Early Return To KSC

Aiming to return to Kennedy Space Center a day earlier than originally planned, NASA contractor technicians today will mount a tailcone on Endeavour as preparations for a cross-country trip from California continue at Edwards Air Force Base.

NASA is outfitting the orbiter with the tailcone to reduce aerodynamic drag during the coast-to-coast trip, which now might begin as early as Sunday. The earliest Endeavour might be back on the Space Coast is late in the morning on Monday.

Endeavour landed at the Mojave Desert military base Nov. 30 after stiff crosswinds prompted NASA to forego two landing opportunities at KSC. Endeavour will be mounted atop a specially designed 747 carrier aircraft for a piggyback ride that likely will take the duo over the southwest and southeast United States.

Post-flight inspections to the orbiter's thermal protection system have been completed and no major damage was discovered. Contractor technicians finished offloading toxic rocket propellants from the shuttle's Orbital Maneuvering System, its Reaction Control System and its Auxiliary Power Units on Thursday.

A purge of the orbiter's three power-producing fuel cells is expected to be complete today.

A ferry flight readiness review will be conducted Saturday to determine whether the 747 carrier aircraft and Endeavour will be ready to depart Edwards early Sunday. Preps for the trip are on track to do just that.

Check out our interactive graphic that shows how the shuttle will make the trip: Shuttle Piggyback. The graphic was done by Florida Today's Dennis Lowe.

Endeavour and seven astronauts launched from KSC on Nov. 14 and flew a mission to outfit the International Space Station for larger crews. The orbiter's next flight will be in the summer of 2009.

ABOUT THE IMAGES: Click to enlarge and save the NASA images of ferry flight preparations at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The first shows United Space Alliance personnel gathering around the tail end of Endeavour for a safety briefing. The second shows a tail work stand being moved into place around the aft end of the orbiter. The third shows Endeavour nestled in the Mate-Demate Device at Edwards. You can also click the enlarged images to get even bigger views. Photo credits: NASA/Tony Landis.