STS-119: Preparing for Landing
Weather Observations Continue Prior to Shuttle Landing
Today, March 28, 2009, 13 minutes ago
The payload bay doors on space shuttle Discovery were closed a little after 10 a.m. EDT and the shuttle’s astronauts are in the process of deactivating Discovery's navigational star trackers and closing the associated doors on the ship's nose. NASA astronaut Brent Jett has just taken off from Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility in a Shuttle Training Aircraft for weather reconnaissance. Weather officers are looking at whether headwinds may exceed our 28 mph rule for landing.



Astronauts Prepare for Landing
Today, March 28, 2009, 2 hours ago
Discovery’s crew of seven is preparing for a 1:39 p.m. EDT landing today at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The crew was awakened this morning at 5:13 a.m. to the song “I Have a Dream” performed by ABBA. The song was played for Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus.

Flight controllers reported to the space shuttle crew that weather conditions are forecast to be acceptable for their return home and that they could begin deorbit preparations. Discovery will fire its engines at 12:33 p.m. to begin the descent to Florida on a northeasterly track that will cross over Central America and Cuba.