Posted on 08/19/2007 7:16:24 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
The space shuttle Endeavour left the International Space Station (ISS) a day ahead of schedule and has started its journey home to get the jump on what looks to be a diminishing threat from Hurricane Dean.
The spaceship, which launched on August 8, is set to land at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday (US time), a day earlier than planned.
NASA had ordered the early return on fears Dean could turn toward the Texas coast and Johnson Space Centre, home of Mission Control, in Houston.
But forecasters say the storm is instead on a collision course with Mexico.
"The latest track is favourable for the Johnson Space Centre," mission management team chairman John Shannon said.
"There is still uncertainty with a storm like this, but right now it's looking pretty good from our standpoint."
If the storm shifted toward Houston, NASA would evacuate the space centre, which oversees the shuttle during flight, and set up an emergency command post at Kennedy.
Just watched the two craft pass overhead north of Los Angeles separated by about 10 degrees. They seem to appear out of nowhere, cross a portion of the night sky, and then disappear just as suddenly.
NASA - Human Space Flight - Sighting Opportunities
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html
I thought the shuttle was damaged in a critical heat shield area.
Did they repair it??
No they did not repair it. They said there was nothing to worry about.
Oh, help!!
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