CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Mission Control on Sunday gave the green light for
Discovery to attempt landing Monday, concluding that inspections of the space
shuttle's protective skin showed no signs of damage.
The
decision was made after NASA engineers reviewed images from an inspection of
the shuttle's wings and nose cap, conducted Friday and Saturday by Discovery's
crew using sensors at the end of a 50-foot boom attached to a 50-foot robotic
arm.
The
inspection was to make sure there's never a repeat of the Columbia disaster, in
which seven astronauts were killed during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere
because of a damaged shuttle wing.
"Is
the vehicle cleared for entry?'' Steve Lindsey, Discovery's commander asked
after hearing the news.
"That's
affirm. I'm being told I can use that word. You are cleared for entry,''
astronaut Steve Frick in Mission Control radioed back.
NASA
managers were keeping an eye on the weather as showers threatened to come
within 30 miles of the Kennedy Space Center's 15,000-foot runway on Monday
morning.
NASA
was going to attempt a landing only at the Florida space center on Monday but
said it would consider the backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in
California if forced to postpone because of weather. The shuttle must land by
Wednesday.
"The
clouds shouldn't be an issue; however, there's still a chance of showers,''
Frick told Lindsey. "We'll be looking real close at that.''
Discovery
will try to land at 9:14 a.m. or 10:50 a.m. EDT Monday, completing a successful
13-day mission that took supplies and an extra crew member to the international
space station and allowed spacewalkers to repair a vital rail car on the
station.
Mission
Control also told Discovery that a leaking unit that powers hydraulic systems
used for steering and braking shouldn't pose a problem during landing.
Engineers
were not sure whether it had been leaking harmless nitrogen or flammable
hydrazine and had considered burning off the fuel and shutting down the unit
before landing to eliminate any fire hazard -- something NASA has never done
before. The spacecraft needs only one power unit to land.
Without
a third power unit, Discovery's landing gear would have to be deployed by
explosive charges rather than the hydraulics system, and stricter weather
requirements would be implemented for the shuttle's landing at the Kennedy
Space Center.
But
early testing results on the unit Sunday morning showed no problems.
"We
saw normal fuel usage, normal parameters,'' Mission Control radioed Steve
Lindsey, Discovery's commander.
Lindsey
responded, "OK. Great news.''
The
crew also practiced firing jets that will be used during Discovery's re-entry
into Earth's atmosphere, and Lindsey and pilot Mark Kelly practiced landing on
a computer simulator.
Later
in the day, the crew members had a series of television interviews scheduled.
They
awoke Sunday to a recording of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven,'' chosen by
astronaut Piers Sellers' family. Sellers told Mission Control the song reminded
him of "the wild, happy, drinking-beer years of my youth.''
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