The astronauts onboard space shuttle Discovery conclude their successful mission

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – The astronauts onboard space shuttle Discovery are getting ready to conclude their successful mission to the International Space Station, weather permitting, with a planned landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday at 7:48 a.m. CDT.

The crew’s wakeup call at 11:21 p.m. was “The Star Spangled Banner,” played for Commander Alan G. Poindexter, who is wrapping up his second spaceflight. A U.S. Navy captain, Poindexter served as a pilot on STS-122 in February 2008.

When Discovery re-enters the Earth's atmosphere Monday morning, it will be flying over the northern Pacific Ocean on a course that will take it over much of North America before landing at KSC.

The first Kennedy landing opportunity on the mission’s 222nd orbit would see a deorbit burn at 6:43 a.m. CDT for the 7:48 a.m. landing. For the second opportunity on orbit 223 the deorbit burn would be at 8:17 a.m. for a landing at 9:23 a.m.

Forecasts for Kennedy are not promising, calling for high overcast and two layers of scattered clouds, as well as a chance of showers in the area. If needed, there are landing opportunities at Kennedy and the backup runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Tuesday.