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- On Saturday, March 9, 1996, 8:30 a.m. CST, STS-75 MCC Status Report # 31 reports:
- Space Shuttle Columbia completed a 16-day science mission this morning with a landing at 7:58 a.m. CST at the Kennedy Space Center.in Florida. An early landing opportunity this morning was passed over because of cloudy conditions at the landing site, but weather conditions improved for the one-orbit later end of mission.
- The seven-member flight crew will return to Houston to a welcoming ceremony at Ellington Field Saturday mid-afternoon at the Hangar 990 area. The event is open to the public. This recording will be updated later today as the crew return time becomes known.
- Columbia's flight covered approximately six and a half million miles in 251 orbits of the Earth. It was the 75th mission of the Shuttle program and Columbia's 19th trip into space. Originally scheduled to end Thursday, the flight was first extended one day to gain additional science time on orbit and extended until Saturday after landing opportunities Friday were missed due to unacceptable weather in Florida.
- Columbia's entry ground track took it across Mexico, the center of Texas and Louisiana before tracking over the Gulf of Mexico on its way to the Florida landing site. The orbiter’s main gear touched the runway at 7:58 a.m. and 21 seconds.
Return to STS-75 Mission Summary - On Saturday, March 9, 1996, 8:30 a.m. CST, STS-75 MCC Status Report # 31 reports: