26-March-2008, 06:56 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 10,368
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CBS News Space Place
Quote:
The Endeavour astronauts tested the shuttle's re-entry systems Tuesday and packed for landing Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center to close out a 16-day space station assembly mission. Entry Flight Director Richard Jones said the shuttle is in good shape and the weather is "go" for a late afternoon descent.
"The flight control system behaved beautifully, there are no issues to really talk about," Jones said of today's entry preparations.
Flying upside down and backward, Gorie and pilot Gregory Johnson plan to fire Endeavour's twin braking rockets for two minutes and 51 seconds starting at 5:58:14 p.m., slowing the ship by about 209 mph and dropping it out of orbit.
Flying northward over Central America just west of the Panama Canal, the shuttle's flight path will carry it high above central Cuba and then up the east coast of Florida before a left overhead turn to line up on runway 15. Touchdown is expected at 7:05:08 p.m.
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Reentry burn target:
March 26 1458 PDT
March 26 1758 EDT
March 26 2158 UTC
Touchdown target:
March 26 1605 PDT
March 26 1905 EDT
March 26 2305 UTC
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