Endeavour commander Mark Kelly, with microphone, and his crew discuss their mission from the shuttle's mid-deck. Surrounding Kelly, left to right, are Greg Chamitoff, Drew Feustel, Greg H. Johnson, Roberto Vittori and Mike Fincke. Photo Credit/NASA TV
Forecasters offered a favorable weather outlook Tuesday, as Endeavour’s astronauts prepared to end their 16-day mission to the International Space Station with a pre-dawn landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
Endeavour’s return will shadow the roll out of shuttle Atlantis to Launch Pad 39 A, where the orbiter will under go preparations for a July 8 lift off on the final shuttle program mission.
Endeavour commander Mark Kelly, pilot Greg H. Johnson, Mike Fincke, Drew Feustel, Greg Chamitoff and Roberto Vittori have two opportunities to land Wednesday, at 2:35 a.m. and 4:11 a.m., EDT.
Atlantis was scheduled to begin its 3.5 mile trek to the launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building at 8 p.m., EDT.
The weather outlook for both operations called for scattered clouds. Earlier concerns that cross winds could exceed runway limits eased on the eve of Endeavour’s descent. A surge of cold air may trigger scattered rain showers, but the moisture should remain safely beyond the runway, said Tony Ceccacci, the NASA flight director who will supervise the descent from Mission Control.
The mission marks the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, which will be de-serviced and prepared for display at the California Museum of Science in Los Angeles.
“It’s really bitter-sweet. Endeavour has performed really, really well for us over these 16 days, as it has since its first flight,” Kelly told a network news interviewer Monday night. “It’s been a great space ship. And tomorrow, it will roll to the hangar and get prepared for the next step, the next phase of its life in a museum. Hopefully, millions of people will get to enjoy getting up close to the space shuttle.”
Over a marathon final mission, Endeavour’s crew equipped the International Space Station with the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle accelerator that will search for evidence of primordial anti matter, dark matter and other high energy particles that have shaped cosmic evolution.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, perched on the space station's solar truss, represents the efforts of scientists from 16 countries over a 17-year-period. Photo Credit/NASA Photo
“I hope the AMS will have a long legacy and help to unravel more secrets of the universe, complementing those the Hubble has helped to reveal,” said Feustel. “That is what is important to me personally — to know we have contributed to science and the understanding of the universe for decades and generations to come.”
The astronauts equipped the station with large spare parts to sustain the station’s thermal control, communications and robotic systems well after the shuttle is retired.
Over four spacewalks, the astronauts upgraded the station’s Russian segment with backup power cables and an anchor for the robot arm.
Discovery completed its final flight in March.