Shuttle clear of the station, heading home
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002 at 11:05 a.m. EDT

Atlantis pilot Pam Melroy has fired the shuttle's jet steering thrusters to begin a final separation maneuver that will take the spaceplane far from the International Space Station and set the vehicle up for a return to Earth on Friday.

That final separation burn was marked at 11:01 a.m. EDT as the pair of ships orbited in formation 245 miles above India.

After undocking on time at 9:13 a.m. EDT, Melroy backed Atlantis away from the station to a distance of about 450 feet and then began a fly-around maneuver so the crews could photograph each other and at the same time give her some stick time flying the orbiter.

Replays of the fly-around from both the shuttle and station perspectives are expected to air on NASA TV several times today. A link to our online feed of the agency's television channel is above.

Both station and shuttle crews will settle into a more-or-less routine schedule for the rest of the day. While the station crew will soon be heading for bed and a return to their normal schedule, the shuttle crew will stay busy continuing to prepare for their Friday homecoming and working on an experiment that helps measure the ozone layer above Earth.

Ideal weather forecast for Friday's landing
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002 at 11:45 a.m. EDT

Central Florida's first blast of cold air for the Fall season has moved over the area and it couldn't be more beautiful here today. The skies are clear, there is a light breeze and we can actually open our windows for the first time in months.

It's perfect shuttle landing weather and those conditions are expected to continue on Friday when Atlantis is scheduled to land 24 hours from now.

The six crewmembers aboard Atlantis are spending what is likely to be their final full day in space packing up for the trip home, testing the systems they will rely on for the landing, using a computer flight simulator to practice landings and operating an experiment designed to study Earth's atmosphere.

If all continues to go well with the shuttle's systems and the Florida weather, Atlantis is to fire its braking rockets at 10:36 a.m. EDT and touch down on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:44 a.m. EDT.

Because of the ideal landing forecasts in Florida for Friday and Saturday, NASA officials have decided not to activate the backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Atlantis has enough supplies to remain in orbit for at least four extra days.

The action will begin Friday morning with the closing of Atlantis' payload bay doors, which is expected at 7:56 a.m. EDT. That's when we'll begin our series of updates covering the landing on this page.

Payload bay doors are closed
Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 at 8:15 a.m. EDT

Landing is on schedule for this morning.

Shuttle Atlantis' payload bay doors were closed a few minutes ago and the crew is now reconfiguring the orbiter computer software to run the landing-related program.

The weather here is absolutely perfect, with sunny skies, light winds and cool temperatures that will make it a lot nicer to work out on the shuttle runway once Atlantis has touched down and rolled to a stop.

The shuttle is now scheduled to fire its twin braking rockets at 10:36 a.m. EDT and land at 11:44 a.m. EDT.

The landing will be on Runway 33, which means the shuttle will fly overhead, make a sweeping right-hand turn to line up with the concrete strip and fly an approach from the south to the north.

Local Space Coast residents will have an excellent chance to see Atlantis land, with the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex being a particulary good spot to see the final approach.

Stay tuned to this page for confirmation of the de-orbit burn at 10:36 a.m. EDT.

Atlantis coming home to Florida
Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 at 10:39 a.m. EDT

Shuttle Atlantis is on its way home to the Kennedy Space Center, and there's no turning back.

Touchdown on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center's shuttle landing facility is expected at 11:44 a.m. EDT.

Commander Jeff Ashby and pilot Pam Melroy have just finished firing the shuttle's twin orbital maneuvering engines for two minutes and 12 seconds in a braking maneuver that slowed Atlantis down by 171 miles per hour.

With that little nudge Atlantis' orbit is now extremely egg-shaped such that the low end of the orbit is well within Earth's atmosphere, forcing the shuttle to re-enter and commit to a landing.

Perfect weather will greet the shuttle and its six-member crew. Mostly clear skies, light winds and cool temperatures cover Florida's Space Coast, which awaits the shuttle's trademark double sonic booms just a few minutes before landing.

Stay tuned to this page for confirmation of landing and wheel's stop at 11:45 a.m. EDT.

Shuttle safely lands in Florida
Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 at 11:46 a.m. EDT

A 4.5-million-mile journey that began Oct. 7 at the Kennedy Space Center has safely concluded now that shuttle Atlantis has returned to Earth with a perfect landing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) by mission commander Jeff Ashby.

Atlantis touched down on the concrete strip at 11:44 a.m. EDT and rolled out to a stop on the centerline, along the way deploying a patriotic red, white and blue drag chute to help keep the spaceplane aligned on the runway.

A convoy of KSC vehicles and workers is now racing to greet the vehicle on the runway. They will make a quick inspection of Atlantis and check to see if the orbiter is leaking any toxic fumes. That will be followed by workers hooking up lines to the shuttle to help cool it down.

Today's landing recovery operation is being managed from a new Convoy Commanders' vehicle that allows more people to work closer to the shuttle while taking advantage of better monitoring tools, their own mini-weather station and increased communication capabilities.

It will take about a half-hour or so to safe Atlantis and get to the point where the crew can begin crawling out of the vehicle. They are expected to make an appearance on the runway about an hour after landing.

Welcome home Atlantis and crew
Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 at 3:15 p.m. EDT

By now the five astronauts and one cosmonaut that made up the STS-112 crew have been reunited with their families and close friends following a perfect touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center this morning.

About one hour after commander Jeff Ashby eased shuttle Atlantis onto the concrete runway at 11:44 a.m. EDT, he and his crewmates took a brief walk around the spaceplane and were greeted by KSC managers and engineers.

Then it was off to the crew quarters at the Operations and Checkout building for additional medical checks, post flight tests, showers and the reunions.

No sooner had the STS-112 crew disappeared from view on NASA TV than the STS-113 Endeavour crew showed up at the KSC press site for a brief news conference to talk about their training for their flight in November. The Endeavour crew is at KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, which is a dress rehearsal of launch day plus some training in emergency procedures at the launch site.

The Endeavour launch is targeted for early in the morning on Nov. 10 but is very likely to be delayed as a result of the Soyuz explosion this week. Analysis of that disaster in which one person was killed is expected to take just long enough to force the next Soyuz launch to be delayed, which in turn is expected to delay Endeavour because both missions are heading for the space station.

This is the last update for the STS-112 mission. Thanks to everyone who took a look and followed the mission here. And special thanks to all of you who e-mailed me with your compliments and criticism of our coverage. All of it helps us plan to try to do the next one better.

We'll see you all here in mid-November for the next mission. In the meantime, keep an eye on our Next Launch page for coverage of all expendable launch vehicle shots from around the world.