STS-77 Day 10 Highlights

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On Tuesday, May 28, 1996, 6 a.m. CDT, STS-77 MCC Status Report # 19 reports:

Endeavour's flight control system was checked earlier today and verified in good working order to support a return to Earth tomorrow at the Kennedy Space Center.in Florida or at the Edwards Air Force Base facility in California, weather permitting.

Shortly after wakeup late last night to the Rolling Stones "Start Me Up", the six astronauts began cleaning up the orbiter for the trip home and checked the movable control surfaces on the wings and tail to verify they are working properly for the atmospheric portion of the entry. Consoles in Mission Control were shared through the night by entry flight controllers preparing messages for the crew related to landing and also to review weather conditions forecast for landing.

Weather conditions are expected to be favorable for landing tomorrow in Florida, but a cold front is expected to move into Florida before Thursday's landing opportunities. Based on that forecast, and a deteriorating forecast for California, both sites will be supporting landing tomorrow.

Two landing opportunities are available at each location Wednesday. The Florida landing opportunities are at 6:09 a.m. and 7:44 a.m. Central. The California landing times are 7:36 a.m. and 9:11 a.m. Central.

The entry team will arrive at Mission Control at 11 p.m. to watch over Endeavour and its crew through the final hours of the STS-77 mission. The crew will wake up at 9:30 this evening to prepare for the end of mission.

On Tuesday, May 28, 1996, 5 a.m. CDT, STS-77 MCC Status Report # 20 reports:

Endeavour's crew Tuesday spent its final full day in orbit preparing for a Wednesday morning return to Earth.

The astronauts performed a routine check of the shuttle's flight control surfaces and reaction control system jets, wrapped up work with a number of scientific investigations, and began securing the cabin for the trip back to Earth. Most experiments aboard the shuttle have been completed and stowed away, although a few will operate throughout the night and be deactivated once the crew wakes.

Crew members Andy Thomas, a native of Australia, and Marc Garneau, a Canadian, each received special greetings today as STS-77 neared its end. South Australia Premier Dean Brown called Thomas with congratulations early this morning as the shuttle passed above Brown's office in Adelaide, Australia, Thomas' hometown. Later, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien called Garneau to congratulate him on the mission and the joint Canadian Space Agency and NASA experiments that were conducted.

The crew will awaken at 9:30 p.m. and prepare for a Wednesday morning return to the Kennedy Space Center. Weather conditions in Florida are expected to be acceptable for landing, with only a possibility of rain. If weather precludes a landing in Florida, flight controllers have the option of returning Endeavour to Edwards Air Force Base in California. The Edwards site is available to support a Wednesday landing, if required.

There are a total of four landing opportunities for Endeavour on Wednesday -- two to KSC and two to Edwards Air Force Base. The first landing opportunity would call for firing Endeavour's braking rockets at 5:09 a.m. Central time, with a landing at 6:09 a.m. on KSC Runway 33. The second KSC opportunity has a deorbit engine firing at 6:43 a.m. Central time, followed by a landing at 7:44 a.m.

There are also two opportunities for Endeavour to land in California, where the weather is expected to be acceptable to support landing. The first opportunity calls for the deorbit burn conducted at 6:35 a.m. Central time with a landing at 7:36 a.m. on Runway 22. The second opportunity would have a deorbit burn at 8:10 a.m. Central time with landing to follow at 9:11 a.m.

As Endeavour returns to Earth, it will conclude a voyage of 4.1 million miles, having performed a record four rendezvous during its 10 days on orbit. Endeavour rendezvoused with and retrieved the Spartan 207 satellite, and visited the PAMS-STU satellite three times, spending a total of 21 hours of precise formation flying.

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