[sarex] Astronauts to Prepare for Tuesday Landing

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Astronauts to Prepare for Tuesday Landing *

Image above: Astronaut Barbara R. Morgan, mission specialist, is 
surrounded by supplies in SPACEHAB, located in the cargo bay of the 
Space Shuttle Endeavour. Image: NASA

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

The seven-member STS-118 crew will spend the day preparing for its 
return to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour after a successful stay 
at the International Space Station. The astronauts will stow equipment 
and test Endeavour’s systems that will be used for re-entry and landing.

Endeavour’s first landing opportunity is at 12 32 p.m. EDT at Kennedy 
Space Center, Fla., with the deorbit burn occurring at 11:25 a.m. A 
second opportunity is available at the Florida spaceport at 2:06 p.m. 
The deorbit burn would occur at 1 p.m. White Sands Space Harbor in New 
Mexico will not be called up for a possible Tuesday landing there. A 
decision on whether to call up Edwards AFB, Calif., is expected this 
morning.

+ View STS-118 landing ground tracks 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/landing.html> 


Mission managers continue to monitor Hurricane Dean. Early Monday Dean, 
with winds near 150 mph, was about 150 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, 
moving west at about 20 mph.

Crew members will take time out of their schedule today to participate 
in an education event with the Canadian Space Agency.

The STS-118 crew members spent almost nine days at the international 
outpost. They continued the on-orbit construction of the station and 
transferred tons of cargo between the two spacecraft. The STS-118 crew 
conducted four spacewalks at the station. The two major objectives were 
the installation of the S5 and the replacement of a failed attitude 
control gyroscope.