STS-108 Day 12 Highlights
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- On Sunday, December 16, 2001, 6:00 a.m. CST, STS-108 MCC Status Report # 22
reports:
- On board Endeavour today, the crew will focus its efforts on checking
out the systems and equipment that will be used during Endeavour^Òs
planned reentry and landing Monday.
- Endeavour is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center.about
11:55 a.m. CST tomorrow, weather permitting. Preliminary weather
forecasts predict generally acceptable conditions at the landing site,
with a chance of rain showers in the vicinity. Entry Flight Director
Leroy Cain and his team of flight controllers will oversee the crew^Òs
checkout of flight control systems and surfaces this morning from
Mission Control. They also will receive updated weather forecasts for
Monday^Òs planned landing.
- On what should be their final full day in space, Endeavour^Òs crew ^Ö
Commander Dom Gorie, Pilot Mark Kelly, Mission Specialists Linda
Godwin and Dan Tani, along with the returning Expedition Three
crewmembers Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin ^Ö
were awakened at 3:14 a.m. by the song ^ÓI^Òll Be Home For
Christmas,^Ô sung by Bing Crosby.
- About 9 a.m. today, Endeavour^Òs crew will deploy a small satellite
called STARSHINE 2 from a canister located in the payload bay. More
than 30,000 students from 660 schools in 26 countries will track
STARSHINE 2 as it orbits the Earth for eight months. The students, who
helped polish STARSHINE^ÒS 845 mirrors, will use the information they
collect to calculate the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere.
- Endeavour^Òs middeck will carry home the results of several
experiments completed during Expedition Three^Òs stay on the
station. These include the Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility,
the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth experiment and cells
from the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System (CBOSS). The
CBOSS equipment aboard the space station will remain active during
Expedition Four, growing ovarian and colon cancer cells, as well as
kidney cells in microgravity.
- Experiments in Endeavour^Òs payload bay also will be coming home, to
be returned to investigators around the world. The Multiple
Application Customized Hitchhiker-1 (MACH-1) is carrying a wide array
of experiments, including the Prototype Synchrotron Radiation
Detector, the Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2, the Capillary Pump
Loop, and the Space Experiment Module (SEM). The SEM is carrying
experiments from Argentina, Portugal, Morocco and Australia, as well
experiments from U.S. schoolchildren. Several other canisters in
Endeavour^Òs payload bay are also carrying student experiments.
- The next Mission Control status report will be issued about 6 p.m. CST
today or as events warrant.
- On Sunday, December 16, 2001, 4:00 p.m. CST, STS-108 MCC Status Report # 23
reports:
- On board Endeavour today, the crew focused its efforts on checking out
the systems and equipment that will be used during Endeavour^Òs
planned reentry and landing Monday.
- Endeavour is scheduled to return to the Kennedy Space Center. FL,
about 11:55 a.m. CST Monday, weather permitting. Preliminary weather
forecasts predict generally acceptable conditions at the landing site,
with a chance of rain showers in the vicinity. Entry Flight Director
Leroy Cain and his team of flight controllers coordinated the crew^Òs
checkout of flight control systems and surfaces this morning from
Mission Control.
- Endeavour^Òs crew deployed a small satellite called STARSHINE 2 from a
canister located in the payload bay at about 9 a.m. CST today. More
than 30,000 students from 660 schools in 26 countries will track
STARSHINE 2 as it orbits the Earth for eight months. The students, who
helped polish STARSHINE^ÒS 845 mirrors, will use the information they
collect to calculate the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere.
- Endeavour^Òs middeck will carry home the results of several
experiments completed during Expedition Three on the International
Space Station. These include the Advanced Protein Crystallization
Facility, the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth experiment
and cells from the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System
(CBOSS). The CBOSS equipment aboard the space station will remain
active during Expedition Four, growing ovarian and colon cancer cells,
as well as kidney cells in microgravity.
- Endeavour's activities are geared toward a landing at the Kennedy
Space Center on Monday. Although opportunities exist, flight
controllers do not plan to consider a landing by Endeavour at Edwards
Air Force Base, CA, Monday. The primary KSC landing opportunity Monday
would begin with a shuttle engine firing at 10:50 a.m. CST leading to
the 11:55 a.m. CST touchdown. A second opportunity to land at KSC also
is available on Monday, beginning with an engine firing at 12:28
p.m. CST that would lead to a 1:32 p.m. CST touchdown at KSC.
- The Johnson Space Center newsroom will open at 5 a.m. CST Monday, and
the next Mission Control status report will be issued at about 6
a.m. CST Monday or as events warrant.
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