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About Shuttle landing

After resupplying the space station and testing the cameras and sensors that let NASA truly measure the extent of launch debris for the first time - Discovery is scheduled to glide to the ground as early as 4:46 a.m. Eastern time Monday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Beyond that, it has been a mission with high and low points. Discovery’s external tank shed so much less debris than earlier ones that the shuttle had just 25 scars on its tiles, one-sixth of the usual amount. But the largest chunk of foam, at 0.9 pounds, was more than enough to cause another catastrophe if it had fallen at an earlier point in the ascent and hit the vehicle.

If the weather does not bode well for landing in Florida on Monday, NASA managers will consider two additional landing sites for Tuesday - Edwards Air Force Base in California or the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The strong preference is for a Florida landing, however, since the shuttle does not need to be ferried to Florida.

posted by: kyawoo at 08:14 | link | comments |
space shuttle

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