STS-119: Should be beginning deorbit prep as of 8:33 am
Discovery Crew Set for Saturday Landing
Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:17:39 GMT

The astronauts on space shuttle Discovery are preparing to spend what is planned to be their final night in orbit, with wake up set for 5:13 a.m. EDT Saturday to ready for a 1:39 p.m. landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Weather conditions are forecast to be acceptable for the shuttle's return home to Florida.

Discovery's crew will go to sleep at 9:13 p.m. Following wake up on Saturday, they will begin deorbit preparations at 8:33 a.m. Discovery will fire its engines at 12:33 p.m. to begin the descent to Florida. A second opportunity is available if needed for Discovery to land at Kennedy on Saturday, beginning with a deorbit burn engine firing at 2:08 p.m. leading to a 3:14 p.m. touchdown.