CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The seven-astronaut crew of NASA's shuttle Atlantis is
hoping to beat the weather to make a Florida landing today after a successful
construction flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
Commanded
by veteran spaceflyer Rick Sturckow, Atlantis' STS-117 crew is due land at 1:55
p.m. EDT (1755 GMT) here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to close a busy
mission to help power up the ISS.
"We'll be
ready tomorrow if the weather cooperates," Sturckow told Mission Control late
Wednesday.
Afternoon
thunderstorms around NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility here at KSC, as well as
thick clouds, may
prevent Atlantis from landing during either of two windows today. But the
turbulent weather is typical for the shuttle landing site this time of year,
NASA has said.
"No landing
is easy with weather, and we're used to it," said Norm Knight, NASA's lead
entry flight director. "I'm always optimistic about it."
Sturckow
and his crewmates are completing a 13-day mission to the ISS, where the
astronauts installed a pair new starboard
solar arrays and trusses, stow an older solar wing and swap out one member
of the outpost's three-person Expedition 15 crew. They also helped the station's
crew endure, and ultimately win over, a major
computer meltdown before swapping out one of the orbital laboratory's astronauts.
The
Atlantis crew undocked from the space station on Tuesday and has two
opportunities to return to Earth today. In addition to a 1:55 p.m. EDT
touchdown, the shuttle could fire its engines a bit later for a 3:30 p.m. EDT
(1930 GMT) landing before standing down for the day, Knight said.
Additional
landing opportunities arise at KSC, as well as at NASA's backup runway at Edwards
Air Force Base in California, on both Friday and Saturday. The shuttle does
have enough supplies to stay in orbit until Sunday, but mission managers want to
keep that final day in reserve to handle any unforeseen technical glitches.
A third
landing option, Northrup Strip at New Mexico's White Sands Space Harbor, is
also available Saturday and Sunday if needed.
Homeward
bound
Returning
to Earth aboard Atlantis with Sturckow are shuttle pilot Lee Archambault and
mission specialists Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, James Reilly II, Danny
Olivas and Sunita Williams. Swanson, Olivas and Williams are completing their
first spaceflights.
The astronauts
staged four spacewalks - one more than planned - while at the ISS to install a
$367.3 million pair of new starboard solar wings and the 17.5-ton Starboard
3/Starboard 4 (S3/S4) truss segments that lend the station its new balanced
look.
"It's
really one of those things that you'll remember forever," Reilly said of
working on the ISS during two spacewalks.
The new
solar arrays will prime the station for the arrival of new modules and international
laboratorys later this year.
Williams is
returning to Earth after a six-month mission to the ISS and joined the shuttle
crew in mid-flight as part of the NASA astronaut swap for the station's
Expedition 15 crew. Fellow U.S. astronaut Clayton Anderson, who launched
with the STS-117 crew on June 8, took up Williams' post.
"I just can't
wait to get back, to feel the air on my face and feel the sea breeze," Williams
told reporters Wednesday, adding that she is looking forward to seeing her
family, husband and beloved dog Gorby, whom she frequently mentioned during her
spaceflight.
Today marks
Williams' 193rd day in space, a world
record for a female astronaut, though she has expressed some uncertainty at
how she will cope after more months of life in weightlessness. She will return to
Earth in a reclined position using a recumbent seat to ease the transition.
"I'm a
little bit nervous about that," Williams said, adding that she's tried to keep
up a rigorous exercise regime. "I've never done this before so I don't know how
everything is going to work out."
Meanhile,
flight controllers on Earth said they were looking forward to today's landing
attempt despite the dire weather forecasts.
"We're
looking forward to watching a pretty reentry," Cathy Koerner, NASA's lead
STS-117 shuttle flight director, told the crew Wednesday.
NASA is broadcasting the space shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission live on NASA
TV. Click here for mission updates
and SPACE.com's
video feed.
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