Space station crew touchdown safely in foggy Kazakhstan

Russian Soyuz craft descends to a March 12 landing with a crew of three. (NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An American and two Russians touched down with a thud upon the snow-covered desert of central Kazakhstan on Thursday after spending 167 days living and working aboard the International Space Station.

Dense fog over the landing site delayed official confirmation of the spacecraft's landing for six minutes. Meanwhile, recovery crews were racing to locate the craft and relay word back to mission control in Moscow.

Outgoing space station commander and NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore, and cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova returned to Earth aboard the same the Soyuz spacecraft in which they launched aboard last September 26.The space trio completed over 2,600 orbits of their home planet having traveled 70.7 million miles.

Wilmore departed the station just a week following the completion of three spacewalks with fellow astronaut Terry W. Virts. Virts assumed command of the space station from Wilmore during a traditional ceremony on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Serova became the first Russian woman to board the orbital complex during her flight -- only the fourth Russian female to ever fly in space.

The crew's arrival home began three hours earlier with a flawless undocking from the outpost's Poisk module at 6:44 p.m., as the two spacecraft soared 257 miles above northern Mongolia. The international trio left behind the station's new Expedition 43 crew members of Virts, Italian Samantha Cristoforetti and Russian Anton Shkaplerov.

Minutes following the departure, Virts rang the station's naval bell and radioed, "Soyuz TMA-14M departing". The new station commander then radioed the free-flying Soyuz, "To the crew of Soyuz TMA-14M, soft landing guys, and we will see you on Earth in a few months."

As the Soyuz sailed for one final Earth orbit on the ocean of space, Samokutyaev aligned the craft for it's nearly five minute burn at 9:16 p.m. to drop them out of orbit. Twenty minutes after the burn, pyrotechnical explosives separated the three section Soyuz allowing the crew section to move away in time for the 2,500-degree Fahrenheit fiery re-entry three minutes later.

Samokutyaev guided the Russian launched Soyuz spacecraft down to a pinpoint landing at 10:07 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (8:07 a.m. local time, Thursday), about 65 miles southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. As the Soyuz came to a stop on the snow laden region 26 minutes after sunrise, Russian MI-8 military helicopters and vehicles began racing toward the tired space crew.

Up next is the March 27 Soyuz TMA-15M launch with American Scott Kelly and Russian's Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka. Both Kelly and Kornienko will spend a full year aboard the space station gathering bio-medical information on themselves to test the effects of space and microgravity on the human body.

U.S.-Russian space flight lands safely in Kazakhstan

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An American and two Russians returned to Earth on Thursday completing their 167 day stay aboard the International Space Station with a pinpoint landing on the desert region of central Kazakhstan.

NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsuv and Oleg Artemyev guided their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft to a touchdown at 10:23 p.m. EDT (8:23 a.m. Thursday, local time) on Wednesday.

The smooth landing concluded a spaceflight which began with a Soyuz thruster failure minutes after arriving in orbit forcing the crew to limp into a higher orbit over a two day period which trailed the space station.

Out going station commander Swanson, Skvortsuv and Artemyev said their farewells to fellow crew mates American Reid Wiseman, German Alexander Gerst and Expedition 41 commander Russian Max Suraev before entering their Soyuz and closing the hatches a few hours prior to undocking.

As an orbital sun rise began, the Soyuz craft separated from the station's Poisk module at 7:01 p.m., and slowly began moving out to a distance of a few hundred feet before circling around the station and departing.

"Goodbye ISS and so long station," radioed Soyuz commander Skvortsuv to his former home in space five minutes following the undocking.

Two Earth orbits later, Skvortsuv then maneuvered the Soyuz to a proper attitude to allow a section of the Soyuz to separate prior to leaving orbit with an engine firing at 9:31 p.m.

The crew made 2,704 trips around the Earth and traveled 71.7 million miles since their launch in March.

A new space trio is scheduled to launch to the orbiting laboratory in two weeks. NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore and cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova will lift-off inside their TMA-14M from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 25 at 4:25 p.m., and will arrive at the station five and one-half hours later for docking.

Serova will become only the fourth Russian female to travel into space and the first to spend a long duration stay aboard the space station.


(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace, science and technology. Follow his updates via Twitter @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)

Endeavour lands upon the Space Coast concluding her storied career

Endeavour lands in the blackness of the Florida wildlife. (NASA)

Gliding out of earth orbit and into the blackness of a Florida night sky, shuttle Endeavour returned home to the Kennedy Space Center today completing her twenty-fifth and final space flight.

Endeavour's all veteran crew of commander Mark Kelly, pilot Greg Johnson and mission specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and Italian Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency, dropped out orbit after traveling 6,510,000 miles during nearly sixteen days.

As Endeavour soared high over the space center, her sister ship was on the move toward her launch pad in preparation for the final space shuttle flight.

Endeavour touched down on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center at 2:34:51 a.m. EDT, as her main gear hit the three mile strip at 210 m.p.h.

Johnson then released the drag chute to help slow the space craft down as Kelly gently lowered the nose gear.

Endeavour rolled to a stop at 2:35:36 a.m., completing 248 orbits of the earth on this her final flight.

"Welcome home, Endeavour," Mission Control radioed Endeavour's crew as she stopped.

"You know, the space shuttle is an amazing vehicle," commander Kelly radioed Mission Control. "To fly through the atmosphere, hit it at Mach 25. I mean steer through the atmosphere like an airplane, land on a runway like an airplane it is really, really an incredible ship."

"On behalf of my entire crew, I want to thank every person who's worked to get this mission going and every person that's worked on Endeavour. It's sad to see her land for the last time, but she really has a great legacy," Kelly added.

In normal dramatic style, NASA's infrared television showed normal exhaust from venting power units at the base of the vertical stabilizer.

NASA's fifth operational shuttle and the replacement for Challenger, Endeavour was the craft used on the first repair flight of the Hubble Space Telescope; and was the first to visit the new International Space Station as she brought up the first American segment and connected it with the first Russian module in 1998.

It was the completion of a sixteen day mission to the International Space Station which saw the delivery of an experiment sixteen nations will use to study the dark matter and solar wind in our solar system, four spacewalks to hook of cooling lines from American modules to a Russian module; and the resupply and the outpost with fresh goods for the crew and extra spare parts and equipment.

Astronauts outside the station handed over Endeavour's extension boom to the station to extend the outpost's reach another fifty feet giving the robotic arm a 100-foot reach for robotics work.

Prior to leaving orbit, Kelly called down to Mission Control asking about an earlier issue with right nose landing gear #2 tire pressure sensor which cropped up on launch day.

Mission control waved off the issue and "masked" that sensor so that an alarm would not sound before landing.

The shuttle's twin engines were fired for nearly three minutes prior to landing at 1:29:44 a.m. to slow the spacecraft down by 295 feet per second, and begin her free fall out of orbit and toward the earth's atmosphere.

As the shuttle's orbit decayed, Kelly flipped Endeavour's nose forward 138-degrees to bring the belly down toward earth with the nose pitched up for re-entry minutes later.

The orbiter then began to hit the atmosphere nearly 400,000 feet above the southern Pacific Ocean and 5,100 miles from her runway at 2:03 a.m.

The nineteen year old spacecraft flew high over southern Mexico at a speed of Mach 18, and out over the southern Gulf of Mexico at Mach 12 before making landfall over Fort Myers, Florida.

As Endeavour flew over the Gulf, her speed continued to slow down as she performed a second roll turn to bleed off energy.

With a pitch black horizon, Kelly and Johnson guided Endeavour toward the Atlantic Coastline for one final turn into the runway.

Sonic booms at 2:31 a.m. then sounded heralding Endeavour's homecoming as the powerless orbiter dropped from an altitude of seven miles high.

Endeavour's last flight also marked a milestone on human space duration.

Fincke became the American with the most time spent in space with 382 days now spent in space upon Endeavour's return today.

In all, Endeavour traveled 122,853,151 miles during her twenty-five missions, and made 4,671 revolutions of the earth during her storied career. Endeavour's time in space ended at 299 days as well.

This morning's landing means only one final space shuttle flight remains for NASA, who completed sending Atlantis to her launch pad an hour following Endeavour's return.

Lift-off of NASA's 135th and final space shuttle flight is targeted for June 8 at 11:38 a.m.

Endeavour's crew prepares for Wednesday's landing in Florida

The crew of shuttle Endeavour continue to move the orbiter away from the International Space Station today, and prepare for their Florida homecoming early on Wednesday.

The final space flight of Endeavour is set to conclude at the Kennedy Space Center with a landing in the Florida darkness and onto a three mile runway located in the middle of a wildlife refuge.

Endeavour's twenty-fifth flight will wrap up sixteen days in space, including 12 busy days docked to the space station, and will have made 249 orbits of the earth as the spacecraft glides home.

Endeavour's commander Mark Kelly and pilot Greg Johnson will begin to break Endeavour out of earth orbit at 1:30 a.m. EDT on June 1, and aim for a main gear touch down upon runway 15 at 2:35 a.m.

California's Edwards AFB will not be called up to support a Wednesday landing, however the desert runway will be called up in the event landing is delay one day to Thursday.

NASA on Sunday released the landing ground tracks for the first opportunity. A second opportunity exists for a target touchdown into Kennedy at 4:11 a.m.

The concern for wind gusts and crosswinds over the runway may be of concern as the Air Force meteorology group predicts gusts of 20 m.p.h. at landing. Scattered clouds and a temperature of 74 degrees is also forecast.

Shuttle Discovery glides home completing her final flight

Discovery rolls out on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center. (NASA)

Gliding home to a landing after a successful two weeks in orbit, space shuttle Discovery completed her final space flight after twenty-seven years of service.

As landing approached, Discovery performed what NASA labeled "her victory lap around the globe" as she begun her 202 and final orbit of her last flight.

Discovery commander Steve Lindsey and pilot Eric Boe fired the craft's orbital maneuvering system engines for 157 seconds at 10:52 a.m. EST, to slow Discovery down by 188 m.p.h, allowing Discovery to begin her free fall out of earth orbit.

The burn occurred over the east central Indian Ocean off the coast of Malaysia at an altitude of 218 miles above midway through Discovery's 202 orbit of her flight.

Discovery was flying at this time with the tail in the direction of travel and payload bay toward earth.

As Discovery's final minutes in space tick down, the spacecraft's nose will pitch forward 140-degrees as Lindsey lines up Discovery for reentry into the earth's atmosphere.

As Discovery left the last traces of space, the orbiter hit the upper layer of the earth's atmosphere at 11:27 a.m. Friction caused by the fast speed of Discovery against the atmosphere saw temperatures of nearly 3,000 degrees bake the orbiter's belly, nose and wing leading edges.

The orbiter made landfall crossing Florida's western coastline near Sarasota at an altitude of 22 miles high.

Soaring into the beautiful blue skies over the Kennedy Space Center, Boe then armed the landing gear. As the trio of wheel struts dropped down, Lindsey pitched the orbiter's nose up as the White Dove inched closer to her runway's center line.

With winds gusting to near 25 m.p.h. down runway 15, Lindsey landed Discovery at a speed of 195 knots at 11:57:17 a.m.

Boe then deployed a drag chute to help slow the historic spacecraft down just second before Lindsey brought the nose down.

The spacecraft's wheels slowed and Discovery's movement under her own power come to a final stop at 11:58:14 a.m.

"Houston, Discovery, for the final time - wheels stopped," the ship's commander exclaimed.

"Discovery, Houston, great job by you and your crew," mission control CAPCOM Charles Hobaugh radioed back. "That was a great landing in tough conditions, and it was an awesome docked mission you all had. You were able to take Discovery up to a full 365 degr... days of actual time on orbit. I think you'd call that a fleet leader and a leader of any manned vehicle for time in orbit. So job well done."

As Discovery stopped on the 9,700-foot point of the runway, the most launched manned spacecraft in world history had completed a total of 5,831 orbits of the earth since her first flight on STS-41D in August 1984.

It was the 76th landing upon the Space Coast by a space shuttle orbiter since 1984.

Discovery's odometer now reads 148,221,675 miles flown during thirty-nine space flights.

Her combined missions during nearly twenty-seven years will have kept her flying a full 365 days in space.

On hand near the runway to cheer and witness the beautiful touchdown were dozens of space center employees, several of the mission's flight directors and NASA administrator Charlie Bolden.

Discovery is expected to spend the year being cleaned up of any toxic fuels, and the removal of unneeded weight located inside the craft.

The plan is for Discovery to be located to her new home in Washington, D.C. and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in 2013. There, she will be able to be viewed by the world up close and in person.

Four hours following the landing, Discovery is expected to begin it's three mile journey to the orbiter processing facility bay two, and will be deserviced for the final time.

Discovery's final crew are scheduled to depart the Space Coast for Houston's Ellington Air Field on Thursday morning.

Space Station Crew Returns to Earth after 163 Days

Soyuz TMA17 fires breaking rockets prior to landing. (NASA)

A trio of crew members who spent six months living in space returned back to earth tonight just hours after undocking from the International Space Station.

Beautiful blue skies and 65 degrees greeted the returning crew at it's landing site in the isolated region in northern Kazakhstan.

Expedition 23 commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi landed their Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft on target tonight at 11:25 pm EDT (9:25 am Wednesday Kazakhstan time).

"It was really a success mission for us. I really appreciate all my crew members who helped me," outgoing station commander Kotov stated on Monday during a brief change of command ceremony. "And, Alexander, I give up command of this station."

Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko will stay alone on the station for the next two weeks. A new crew of three -- Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock from NASA and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin -- will then embark on their six month voyage aboard the space station with their launch from Baikonor on June 16.

Earlier they officially closed their hatch at 4:54 pm EDT which led to the vestibule. The crew then begin a series of leak checks inside the Soyuz.

Then with Kotov at the Soyuz controls, the spacecraft undocked from the Russian Zevezda module at 8:04 pm to begin the journey home.

The Soyuz then made one and one-half revolutions of the earth prior to it's deorbit burn at 10:34 pm, which slowed the spacecraft down by 258 mph to drop out of an orbit of 220 miles up.

The Soyuz then began feeling the first effects of the earth's atmosphere 32 minutes later at an altitude of 62 miles high. The tug of gravity began to also overwhelm the spacecraft, the first moments of gravity the three men have felt in 163 days.

Several Parachutes then deployed minutes before landing, followed by several breaking rockets which fired seconds before touchdown slowing the craft's speed down to 21 mph and a soft landing (above).

The two astronauts and one cosmonaut launched 163 days ago from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 20, and docked two days later with the Russian Zarya segment of the station.

The crew were then slowly removed from the Soyuz and placed in recliner chairs, first Kotov then Noguchi and then Creamer. Noguchi enjoyed a green apple minutes later and was able to place a satellite phone call to his wife located back in south Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center.

Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko will stay alone on the station for the next two weeks. A new crew of three -- Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock from NASA and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin -- will then embark on their six month voyage aboard the space station with their launch from Baikonor on June 16.

Creamer and Noguchi will spend much of Wednesday traveling back to America, expected to land at Ellington Field at 11:00 pm Houston time on that evening.

Shuttle Atlantis Returns to America's Spaceport

Atlantis concluded her thirty-second mission today. (KSC)

Streaking out of the blue Florida sky, shuttle Atlantis returned home to the Kennedy Space Center today concluding twelve days and 186 orbits of the earth.

Atlantis commander Kenneth Ham and pilot Tony Antonelli fired the shuttle's breaking engines to slow the orbiter down by 220 miles to allow the craft to begin her fall out of an orbit 220 miles high.

Atlantis soared into the dawn of an orbital sunrise as she approached Central America just minutes before landing upon America's Space Coast.

A former Air Force pilot, Ham pitched the orbiter's nose up from the craft's steep glide in and Antonelli dropped the landing gear as Atlantis approached the center line of the three mile long runway.

Atlantis' main gear slammed upon runway 33 at a speed of 212 mph at 8:48:11 am EDT, this morning.

Antonelli then deployed the drag chute to help slow the orbiter down to keep the extra stress off the braking system during the rollout.

"It was smooth as silk," Commander Ham stated of the approach into Kennedy. "We were clearly riding in the middle of a fireball, and it was spectacular. The windows, all of them, were bright, brilliant orange. One of the neatest things was when we flew right into orbital sunrise."

For most of the workers who gathered to watch the landing, it fired off a cannon of personal memories of their work with NASA's twenty-five year old spacecraft.

Some at NASA feel that her thirty-second mission will be her final mission, while a select few feel that the space agency's administrator Charles Bolden and President Obama will allow for her to fly the final space shuttle mission.

Technicians will begin today preparing Atlantis for a 'launch on need' flight in support of Endeavour's mission this February -- the final planned space shuttle flight.

As Endeavour launches toward the space station next winter, Atlantis will stand ready in high bay 3 of the vehicle assembly building stacked to her external tank and twin boosters.

If Endeavour is deemed unsafe to return back to earth due to flight damage, Atlantis will be rolled out to her seaside launch pad and launched three weeks later with a crew of four.

A safe return by Endeavour two weeks after her launch could mean one additional final flight by Atlantis a few months later, likely in July 2011, on STS-135. A decision on what direction NASA will take will be known in prior to July 1st.

Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steven Bowen and Piers Sellers round out Atlantis' crew of six veteran astronauts.

Over the last ten days, Atlantis delivered to the International Space Station a new Russian module to the station known as Rassvet. The crew also delivered six fresh batteries for the port 6 truss solar array; a new high gain antenna; over 1,310 pounds of water; and fresh oxygen, nitrogen and supplies to the expanding space station.

Three crew members performed three spacewalks to remove the old batteries and install the new set of six; and install a new Ku-Band antenna to the station.

"We're thrilled because we accomplished the mission that was put in front of us," Ham added today. "We've been hearing stories about how folks have been having fun and enjoyed watching us have fun, and that's really important to us."

The crew is scheduled to depart Florida late on Thursday morning for their homes near Houston.

VIDEO: Discovery's Sunrise Landing in Florida

Discovery returns home to the Kennedy Space Center today after traveling over 6 million miles during 15 days in space.

Discovery Lands Upon America's Space Coast

Discovery nears Kennedy Space Center today. (NASA)

The space shuttle Discovery left earth orbit this morning and glided home across America's heartland with a sunrise landing upon America's Space Coast.

Discovery returned home following fifteen full days in space which saw the orbiter docked to the International Space Station on a ten day resupply mission.

As NASA's oldest active space shuttle returned to Florida, she and her crew of seven crossed over the United States beginning over Northern Idaho; over Helena, Montana; southeastward to Little Rock; down to Montgomery and into northern Florida.

Discovery's main gear touched down upon runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:08:35 am EDT, at a speed of 206 mph.

Commander Alan Poindexter then lowered the nose of the orbiter down allowing it to hit the runway twelve seconds later. Pilot James Dutton deployed the drag chute just prior to the nose touchdown to slow the orbiter as Discovery rolled to a stop after traveling 6,232,235 miles since her launch.

Wheels stop occurred at 8:09:33 am giving NASA's 131st space shuttle mission a flight duration of 15 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes and 8 seconds, according to Mission Control.

"It was a great mission," Poindexter radioed to Mission Control just after wheels stopped. "We're glad that the International Space Station is stocked up again."

It was the 74th landing by a space shuttle at Kennedy, and was the 38th space flight of Discovery.

Discovery's crew includes Poindexter, Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and Clayton Anderson.

"We had a lot of adversity but we overcame it all with some great team work. I've had two homecomings this flight. I got to go home to the International Space Station and now I get to come home to KSC," stated Anderson who lived aboard the space station for five months. "To all of you who helped get us up and bring us back, thank you so very much. God bless America."

As the spacecraft flew 223 miles above the northern coastline of Australia, Discovery fired her twin orbital manuvering engines for 2 minutes, 57 seconds at 8:02:55 am.

The burn slowed the ship down by 205 miles per hour, decreasing her orbital velocity to allow the craft to drop out of orbit.

At 8:26 am, both Poindexter and Dutton were surprised at one point as the the forward jets of the orbiter began firing to maneuver the ship for her entry interface minutes later.

Reentry of Discovery back into the earth's atmosphere began at 8:27 am as the orbiter flew 399,800 feet over the northern Pacific Ocean, flying at a speed of 16,900 mph.

At this point, Discovery was 2005 miles ahead of the space station.

The mission flew with several high points and a few low points.

Moments after reaching orbit, the crew experienced a glitch with the ship's high gain television antenna known as the KU-band. The mission had to be reworked since the crew were not able to use the antenna for television downlink or high data speed-related transmissions.

The crew also had to wait until after docking with the space station to downlink the thermal protection system survey which was performed on day two of the flight.

A nominal docking on day three of the mission lead to the start of the crew off loading 8,000 pounds of fresh supplies and new equipment from the Leonardo module to the orbital complex.

Astronaut Wilson used the station's robotic arm to reach into Discovery's bay and pluck out the cargo module and dock it to the station. It stayed docked to the Harmony module for eight days.

On the third and final spacewalk of the flight, an issue arose with the nitrogen valve on the newly installed ammonia tank assembly located on the starboard truss segment of the station.

The issue remains on going and space station controllers are continuing to look into what can be done to repair the valve on the cooling system of the station's avionics.

Discovery's next mission is scheduled for September on a flight which will likely shift from the final flight of a space shuttle to the second from final flight soon due to a payload issue with a summer shuttle flight.

VIDEO: Endeavour completes STS-130 tonight

Endeavour makes a night landing at Kennedy Space Center tonight.

Endeavour lands upon America's Space Coast

Endeavour returns home to the Kennedy Space Center (NASA)

Dropping out of a dark Florida sky and through scattered clouds, the space shuttle Endeavour landed this evening following a milestone mission which saw her crew install our window on space and the world.

NASA's Spaceflight Meteorology Group kept their eyes on the weather all through the day, as several cloud decks and nearby rain showers threatened to delay the shuttle's landing in both Florida and her alternate landing site in California.

Endeavour glided over the Florida peninsula and into the Kennedy Space Center where her main gear slammed upon runway 15 at 10:20:31 pm EST, concluding a 5.75 million mile flight to the International Space Station.

"Houston, it's great to be home. It was a great adventure," Endeavour's commander George Zamaka exclaimed after the orbiter stopped.

"The landing today went as smooth as you can hope for... by the numbers," Shuttle Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses stated tonight after the crew departed the orbiter.

One of the interesting aspects as Endeavour left orbit and began reentry into the earth's atmosphere at 9:51 pm, was station astronaut Soichi Noguchi's photograph (below) which he sent to the ground via Twitter.

Noguchi, 216 miles aboard the space station, commented after the landing about his photograph, "I watched the shuttle atmospheric reentry from Cupola window. The view was definitely out-of-the-world. (Here) Space Shuttle Endeavour making S-turn during atmospheric reentry. The first time it was photographed from Space."

This STS-130 flight was Endeavour's twenty-fourth space flight, and was her tenth to the space station. Total mission duration since booster ignition was 13 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes and 24 seconds thru wheels stop at 10:22:10 pm.

Zamaka's crew included pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken.

"It was an outstanding mission. I can't be happier with the success we had and look forward to repeating that on our next mission," Moses added later as he bridged over to the next space shuttle flight this April 5th by Discovery.

Endeavour only has one more space flight left this summer before she is retired. The space shuttle program as a whole has only four flights left with discussion of a possible extra flight under review.

Endeavour GO for the De-Orbit Burn

The space shuttle Endeavour was given the go to leave orbit tonight in preparation for it's dark landing here at the Kennedy Space Center.

The deorbit burn is set for 9:14:51 pm EST. The twin orbital maneuvering system engines will burn for 2 minutes, 34 seconds to slow the orbiter down by 200 mph and drop her free fall out of orbit.

Landing is set for 10:20:36 pm upon runway 15. This will be the first night landing in nearly a year.

Endeavour prepares for Space Coast landing tonight

The six member crew of the space shuttle Endeavour spent this morning preparing their ship for tonight's planned landing upon America's Space Coast -- weather permitting.

After nearly 14 full days in space, Endeavour will leave orbit and glide in for a landing here at the Kennedy Space Center at 10:20 pm EST. If weather prompts a delay, there is also a back up landing time at 11:55 pm.

If weather goes further to rule out both Florida landing opportunities, NASA has called up Edwards, AFB for tonight and will work to get Endeavour down in southern California at either 1:25 am or 3:00 am EST.

Currently, low clouds at 6,000 feet and a chance of rain showers within a 30 nautical mile radius of the landing strip is forecast for both landing sites.

If Endeavour does not land overnight tonight, then the crew will spend an extra day in space and try again Monday night, however the weather forecast remains poor in Florida while California's Edwards looks much better.

Entry Flight Director Norm Knight this morning discussed the outlook for Monday, "For end of mission plus one, which is Monday, for KSC the current forecast indicates the site is degrading. That system that's moving across the central U.S. encroaches Florida and it brings thunderstorms, rain, high crosswinds and ceilings to the site. So if the forecast holds true for KSC, it doesn't look good for Monday".

Once Endeavour is cleared to land on the first opportunity tonight, the crew will suit up a few hours earlier in their partial pressure suits, drink plenty of fluids and strap in for the deorbit burn planned for 9:14 pm.

The burn by the shuttle's twin oms (orbital manuvering system) engines will slow the spacecraft's orbital velocity by a few hundred feet, just enough to being it's drop out of orbit.

The 130th space shuttle crew includes commander George Zamaka, pilot Terry Virts and mission specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken.

Soyuz TMA15 Undocks from Space Station

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft departed the International Space Station with a crew of three following a six month stay, leaving the station a quieter place to live and work.

Orbiting the earth from 220 miles over deep southern Russia near eastern Mongolia, Belgian Frank De Winne, Canadian Robert Thirsk and Russian Roman Romanenko separated from the station at 10:56 pm EST, this evening (9:56 am Dec. 1st Kazakhstan time).

The trio's departure means that the station's crew size has dwindled down to two.

Not since July 2006 have their been just two crew members manning the orbital outpost. Last week, twelve humans were working and living on the station while Atlantis was docked on her resupply mission.


Following several hours of rocket firings to separate away from the station and place the Soyuz in it's proper alignment for landing, the spacecraft is scheduled to touchdown 80 Km north of the town of Arkalyk in central Kazakhstan at 2:15 am EST, December 1.

Tuesday morning's Soyuz landing will be the first Soyuz to land in Kazakhstan in the month of December since 1990 when the Soyuz 10 spacecraft landed following a mission to the MIR space station.

A few days before Christmas, the space station will receive new residents as the current two man Expedition 22 crew of American Jeff Williams and Russian Max Suraev welcome the Soyuz TMA 17's crew of three: Russian Oleg Kotov, American T.J. Creamer, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

VIDEO: Atlantis lands at KSC this morning

VIDEO: Atlantis returns home to KSC today.

Atlantis Returns Home to America's Spaceport

The space shuttle Atlantis left earth orbit and dropped through cold blue Florida skies this morning following an eleven day resupply flight to the International Space Station.

In one of the best weather days along America's Space Coast for a shuttle landing, Atlantis was given the "Go" for her return at 8:14 am EST based on light winds and no cloud cover in the region.

Commander Charles Hobaugh and pilot Barry E. Wilmore donned their entry suits and took their seats two hours before landing to maneuver the spacecraft to a precise window for leaving orbit for their trip home. The seven member crew also includes Randy Bresnik, Leland Melvin, Michael Foreman, Robert Satcher and Nicole Stott.

Atlantis' twin engines began firing for about 3 minutes at 8:37 am to slow the orbiter down by 211 mph, and begin her free fall descent to the Kennedy Space Center.


"You couldn't have picked a clearer day", Hobaugh radioed to Houston's Mission Control as he observed the runway in sight (above).

Flying without power at a speed of 224 mph, Atlantis' main gear slammed onto runway 33 here at America's Spaceport at 9:44:23 am EST, concluding a successful resupply mission to earth's orbital outpost in space. Her wheels came to a stop 42 seconds later.

The STS-129 mission elapsed time at wheels stop was set at T+10 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes and 55 seconds -- one of the shortest shuttle flight's in recent history.

Atlantis' 31st flight covered 4,490,138 miles since her November 16 launch.

For crew member Stott, she returns home following 91 days in space -- 86 spent living aboard the space station as a flight engineer of Expedition 21.

For mission specialist Bresnik, this flight mark several joyous marks -- both in space and back home near Houston. Bresnik made a couple of spacewalks earlier this week, and at the same time, his wife gave birth last Saturday night to a daughter. He received word of the birth announcement following one of his spacewalks.

Atlantis spent seven days docked to the station as her crew resupplied both the inside with fresh food, experiments and supplies; and performed three spacewalks to install new equipment and spare parts on the outside of the outpost.

NASA's 129th space shuttle flight marked the 31st flight to the space station.

Today's landing now means that there is only one flight left for NASA's fourth space shuttle orbiter. Atlantis final mission into space is set for this May on a resupply flight to the station. Atlantis first flew twenty-four years ago on a military DoD flight, STS-51-J.

There are also only five more space shuttle flights left. The next mission is currently planned for February 4th on a flight to deliver the Tranquility module to the station.

Atlantis nears a Blue Sky Florida Landing Today

The seven member crew of the space shuttle Atlantis are in their final hours of flight as they finish preparations for the ship's return to a Florida landing this morning.

Commander Charles Hobaugh and pilot Barry E. Wilmore will don their orange entry suits first at 7AM EST and begin to maneuver Atlantis to the proper alignment for her deorbit burn.

The burn is planned for 8:37 am and will slow Atlantis down by about 350 mph to begin her drop out of earth orbit.

Landing of the 129th space shuttle flight is set for 9:44 am on runway 33 here at the Kennedy Space Center's shuttle landing facility.

Today marks six of the crew members 12th day in space, however it's a special homecoming for the seventh member of the crew -- Nicole Stott.

Stott has spent three months living and working aboard the International Space Station since arriving on an August shuttle flight. Total today, Stott will have spent 91 days in space. She is due to return to the space station this September aboard the last planned space shuttle flight.

Atlantis will close her payload bay doors around 6:10 am, and the crew will also take in fluids to help condition their bodies for the dynamics of reentry and landing back in a 1G environment.

VIDEO: Discovery's Sunset Landing in California

Discovery lands in California tonight after nearly 14 days in space.

Discovery Lands in the California Desert

Dropping out of a cloudy California blue sky reflected by a setting Sun, the space shuttle Discovery tonight concluded a fourteen day mission to resupply and outfit the international space station with new equipment.

Speeding around earth at 17,300 mph, Discovery fired her two small engines at 7:47 pm EDT, to slow the craft down by about 250 mph so that earth's gravity would pull her down and drop out of orbit.

Discovery's main gear hit the Edwards, AFB concrete runway at 225 mph in the southern California desert at 8:53:25 pm, tonight. Pilot Kevin Ford then deployed the drag chute to help slow the orbiter down as the ship's commander Rick Sturckow slowly lowered the nose and seconds later applied the breaks to bring Discovery to a stop.

The orbiter's wheels came to a stop on runway 22L at 8:54:55 pm following a 13 day, 20 hour, 54 minute & 55 second supply transfer flight to earth's orbital outpost 222 miles above.

Discovery's 5.71 million mile mission was commanded by space veteran Sturckow. Pilot Ford was responsible for flying the orbiter following its undocking on Tuesday and station robotic arm operations. Mission specialists John "Danny" Olivas, Jose Hernandez, Patrick Forrester, Christer Fuglesang (European Space Agency) and Tim Kopra.

Kopra returned to earth following 58 days in space -- 53 of the days living and working aboard the space station as a member of the expedition.

Nicole Stott, who launch aboard Discovery and replaced Kopra following the ship's docking, will stay aboard the station until early December and come home aboard Atlantis on mission STS-129.

This 128th space shuttle flight concluded Discovery's 37th mission following her liftoff in the closing seconds of August 28th. Discovery and her crew of seven docked with the station two days later, which also happened to be the silver anniversary of Discovery's first trip into space.

Discovery Prepares for Thursday Evening Landing

The seven member crew of the space shuttle Discovery spent Wednesday preparing their ship for a Thursday evening landing here at the Kennedy Space Center following nearly 13 days in space.

The weather along the Space Coast is the only concern prior to the orbiters return from space. Prior to 5:50 pm EDT, the crew will receive a Go/No go call from mission control whether to proceed with landing.

There is a chance of isolated thunderstorms and a temperature of 81 degrees as the landing time approaches tomorrow.

Discovery's commander Rick Sturckow and pilot Kevin Ford will fire the orbiter's twin breaking jets to slow it down to drop out of orbit. The deorbit burn is scheduled for 5:59 pm, as Discovery circles the globe for the 202nd time since midnight on August 29th.

Mission specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Tim Kopra round out the 128th space shuttle flight's crew. Below, is the ground track Discovery will take as she approaches Florida.

Landing by Discovery is planned for 7:05:20 pm on runway 15 at KSC's shuttle landing facility.



There is a second landing opportunity for Kennedy Space Center which would see a main gear touchdown one orbit later at 8:42 pm.