[hotshu]

I was lucky enough to see the double pass over Salt Lake City last night at 10:04 pm. Pretty cool!

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com
1425 GMT (10:25 a.m. EDT)

The crew has completed the work to bypass the shuttle’s radiators and checked out of the ship’s flash evaporator cooling system for entry. The “go” has been given to shut the payload bay doors for today’s planned landing, if the weather improves.

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Couple of hours to go, if the weather improves.

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com
1439 GMT (10:39 a.m. EDT)

Atlantis’ clam-shell-like payload bay doors have been closed and locked in preparation for today’s fiery descent into Earth’s atmosphere and landing at Kennedy Space Center. The deorbit burn is scheduled for 12:50 p.m., with touchdown at 1:55 p.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, Mission Control has given the crew a “go” to transition the onboard computers from the OPS-2 software used during the shuttle’s stay in space to OPS-3, which is the software package that governs entry and landing. And Atlantis will soon maneuver to a new orientation in space to improve the communications link with NASA’s orbiting data relay satellites.

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A downpour at Cape Canaveral has just ended, more or less. The Shuttle is not waterproof.

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com
1520 GMT (11:20 a.m. EDT)

Now 90 minutes away from the scheduled firing of Atlantis’ twin orbital maneuvering system engines to drop from orbit. The burn begins at 12:49:38 p.m. EDT and will last two minutes and 37 seconds. Landing is set for Kennedy Space Center’s Runway 15 at 1:55 p.m. EDT.

But the weather outlook still calls for low clouds and rain around the runway that would violate the landing rules.

A final “go” or “no go” call from Mission Control whether to proceed with the deorbit burn is expected around 12:30 p.m. EDT.

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The call is about an hour away.