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- On Monday, October 6, 1997, 8:00 a.m. CDT, STS-86 MCC Status Report # 22 reports:
- Atlantis' crew is preparing for a possible homecoming today, with landing opportunities at both the Kennedy Space Center.in Florida and Edwards Air Force Base in California. Today's landing attempts come after inclement weather prevented a landing on the two Florida opportunities yesterday.
- Flight Director Linda Ham made the decision to extend Atlantis' mission for 24 hours following forecasts of broken clouds and extensive cloud coverage over the 3-mile long landing strip at KSC.
- There are four landing opportunities today, two to KSC and two to Edwards on consecutive orbits. The first landing opportunity at KSC would call for a deorbit burn at about 3:48 p.m. Central time with a landing about 4:55 p.m. A preliminary look at today's weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida indicates the possibility of continued low cloud coverage and cross-winds at or near acceptable limits. Initial weather forecasts for Edwards indicates predicted high winds for both landing opportunities there.
- Working with flight controllers on the ground, the crew will begin its formal deorbit preparations just before noon central time today, with closure of Atlantis' payload bay doors targeted about 1 p.m.
- With a landing today, Astronaut Mike Foale will have accumulated 145 days in space, 134 of those as a Mir crew member.
- The next STS-86 status report will be issued following either Atlantis' landing or a wave-off of landing opportunities.
- On Monday, October 6, 1997, 5:00 p.m. CDT, STS-86 MCC Status Report # 23 reports:
- The Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 4:55 p.m. CDT today, bringing the STS-86 mission to a safe and successful conclusion and returning astronaut Mike Foale to earth after 145 days in space.
- Foale, who spent 134 days as a crewmember aboard the Russian space station Mir, concluded a voyage that is estimated to have covered 58,000,000 miles. His is the second longest single space flight in U.S. spaceflight history behind Shannon Lucid's 188-day flight in 1996.
- Monday's landing came one day after clouds prevented Atlantis' landing Sunday in Florida. Mission duration was 10 days, 19 hours and 21 minutes, and covered 4,225,000 miles. NASA Chief Astronaut Ken Cockrell, flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft on mock entry profiles at the KSC landing facility, gave a."go" for observed weather at 3:24 p.m. CDT. Moments later meteorologists gave a "go" for forecasted weather. Entry Flight Director Linda Ham quickly relayed approval to the Atlantis crew 13 minutes before the deorbit burn occurred to begin Atlantis' reentry.
- Atlantis landed on the first of two opportunities today at KSC. Two later landing opportunities were available this evening at Edwards Air Force Base, CA. Today's was the Shuttle's 11th consecutive landing at KSC, the program's preferred nominal landing site.
- The Atlantis crew will spend tonight at Kennedy Space Center.and will return to Houston Tuesday. Welcoming ceremonies at Ellington Field are tentatively planned for between 6 and 7 p.m. CDT. The schedule will be updated during the day Tuesday.
Return to STS-86 Mission Summary - On Monday, October 6, 1997, 8:00 a.m. CDT, STS-86 MCC Status Report # 22 reports: