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Mission Control Capcom Charlie Hobaugh gave space shuttle Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey a "go" for the deorbit burn. The shuttle’s two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines will fire at 10:52 a.m. EST for two minutes, 31 seconds and slow Discovery by 188 miles per hour. Landing is expected at 11:57 a.m. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, runway 15.

Weather is observed and forecast “go.”

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Space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay doors are closed and everything continues to proceed on schedule for this morning’s landing attempt.

Weather currently is both forecast and observed “go.” Astronaut Rick Sturckow is flying weather reconnaissance at Kennedy Space Center, where winds are forecast to be high, but within limits for runway 15. Sturckow will fly runway approaches to assess conditions for Discovery’s landing. The winds from the southeast (130 degrees) are forecast to be 15 knots, peaking to 23 knots, providing a 10 knot crosswind and 21 knot headwind.

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Space shuttle Discovery’s crew continues to prepare for today’s expected landing at 11:57 a.m. EST at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). The entry team of flight controllers has been in Houston’s Mission Control Center since 4:30 a.m. and deorbit preparations are scheduled to begin at 6:52 a.m.

Capcom Charlie Hobaugh told Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey, “The weather looks great.” Winds, the only issue, are within limits for runway 15, the northwest to southeast runway at the SLF.

Here is the updated forecast from Houston’s Spaceflight Meteorology ...

Current Conditions:
Partly Cloudy, 64 F

Forecast:
Wed - Partly Cloudy. High: 80 Low: 65
Thu - Scattered Thunderstorms. High: 76 Low: 48

Full Forecast at Yahoo! Weather

(provided by The Weather Channel)


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Space shuttle Discovery’s crew is wrapping up final preparations for its planned landing at 11:57 a.m. EST at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew has stowed the Ku-Band antenna, used for high-data rate communications and television from space, and will go to sleep at 7:23 p.m.

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Tuesday’s wakeup song, “Blue Sky,” was played live from Mission Control by Todd Park Mohr and Big Head Todd and the Monsters at 3:23 am EST. The song was the winner in the Space Shuttle Program Top 40 song contest and was the first ever wakeup song played live to space.

The song, which received 722,662 votes (29 percent of the total) was originally written as a tribute to the space program and workforce and is routinely played in concert by the four-member band.

BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS

Todd Park Mohr – vocals, guitar, keyboards, saxophone, ...

At 4:11 p.m. EST, hatches were closed between space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station. The hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 4:16 p.m. on February 26 and remained open for joint crew operations for a total of 7 days, 23 hours, and 55 minutes.

Prior to hatch closure, the shuttle and station crews exchanged farewells. Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey thanked station Commander Scott Kelly for the hospitality. Kelly responded, “It was a very successful time onboard. We enjoyed having you as guests, we’re going to miss you, and we’re going to miss ...

The crew members spent much of their day offloading the Permanent Multipurpose Module and filling the H-II Transfer Vehicle with items no longer needed aboard the station. They also performed maintenance on the Oxygen Generation Assembly and the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly.

The shuttle crew sleep period began at 7:23 p.m. EST, with a wakeup call scheduled for 3:23 a.m. Sunday.

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Atlas will make another launch attempt today after Friday's scrub at the Cape.

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Crew members aboard the International Space Station are investigating the cause of a smoke alarm in the Russian Pirs docking compartment. In the past, dust particles have been known to cause similar alarms. The crew is in no danger. ...

Move toward using commercial firms to build spacecraft stirs heated debate

NASA chief Charles Bolden visited Capitol Hill Wednesday to defend the space agency's 2012 budget request against detractors in Congress who said it didn't adhere closely enough to the plans they approved last year.


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House lawmakers voiced exasperation Wednesday with budget plans that they fear will throttle back plans to develop a government rocket.
"I'm concerned that the future of our space program is in serious jeopardy," said Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, chairman of the House space committee. "Frankly, we're exasperated that NASA is not listening to our message."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the agency is striving to meet the goals Congress established in an authorization law enacted last year that sets NASA policy. He said 44 percent of the agency's budget ...

At 6:17 p.m. EST, International Space Station Commander Scott Kelly became the first crew member to enter the newly-installed Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM). The PMM was attached to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Unity node earlier in the day and will provide 2,472 cubic feet of pressurized volume for storage and scientific use. Discovery and station astronauts will use their mission extension day to help unload cargo from PMM and dispose of trash in the HTV.

Mission Specialists Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew are preparing for the second spacewalk of the mission by “camping ...

The space shuttle Mission Management Team decided there is no requirement for a focused inspection because there are no areas of concern on Discovery’s heat shield. Managers expect to continue the review over the next several days and expect to clear the heat shield for entry within the next several days. ...

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Discovery’s astronauts performed an inspection of the orbiter’s thermal protection system. They also checked out spacesuits and rendezvous tools in preparation for Saturday’s docking with the International Space Station, scheduled for 2:15 p.m. EST.

The crew configured shuttle systems for orbital operations and will install the centerline camera that will be used during alignment and rendezvous with the station. All of Discovery’s systems are performing well.

At 10:53 p.m., Discovery’s crew goes to sleep. Beginning at 11 p.m., NASA TV will play Flight Day 2 highlights ...

Space shuttle Discovery rode a brilliant trail of fire and smoke Thursday afternoon as it soared into orbit for an important mission to the International Space Station. The launch came after a last-minute technical glitch with the Air Force's Eastern Range that left only four seconds in the launch window and a practical limit of two seconds because of draining requirements with the external fuel tank.

"It was one more second than Mike Leinbach (shuttle launch director) needed to get the job done, so there was plenty of margin," said Mike Moses, chairman ...

The space shuttle Discovery is seen shortly after the Rotating Service Structure was rolled back at launch pad 39A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011. Discovery, on its 39th and final flight, will carry the Italian-built Permanent Multipurpose Module, Express Logistics Carrier 4 and Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot in space, to the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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