[sarex] STS-117 Crew Looks to End Mission Today

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*STS-117 Crew Looks to End Mission Today*

Landing opportunity 1 at Kennedy Space CenterImage above: Atlantis' 
first landing opportunity is at the Kennedy
Space Center at 1828 UTC.. Image credit: NASA TV

TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Five landing opportunities are available today for space shuttle 
Atlantis and the STS-117 crew. Flight controllers and forecasters 
continue to monitor the weather at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., and 
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Atlantis’ first landing opportunity is at 2:18 p.m. EDT on orbit 218. If 
controllers elect to take it, Commander Rick Sturckow will perform the 
deorbit burn at 1:12 p.m. to begin the descent to Kennedy. Orbit 219 
provides opportunities at both landing sites – a 3:49 p.m. landing at 
Edwards and a 3:55 p.m. landing at Kennedy.

The second opportunity for the California base is on Orbit 220. The 
deorbit burn would occur at 4:18 p.m. with the landing at 5:23 p.m. The 
final opportunity is on Orbit 221 and it calls for the deorbit burn to 
occur at 5:56 p.m. with the landing at 6:59 p.m.

Thunderstorms in the vicinity of Kennedy forced flight controllers to 
wave off both opportunities Thursday. Today’s weather forecast for 
Kennedy calls for the threat of thunderstorms in the area and high winds 
are a possibility at Edwards. Opportunities are also available Saturday.

Atlantis launched June 8 and arrived at the International Space Station 
on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the 
Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to 
activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of 
position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.

Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer 
Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new 
record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She 
arrived at the station in December with STS-116.

STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space 
station. The next mission, STS-118, is slated to launch in August.

*STS-117 Mission*
+ The Crew 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/index.html> 

+ The Mission 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/mission_overview.html> 

+ The Integrated Truss Structure 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/its.html>