Atlantis Prepares for Landing
Department:
The Space Shuttle
Teaser:
"Atlantis shuttle astronauts are preparing their spacecraft for its planned Wednesday landing."
Source:
SPACE.com Download time: May 25 2010 8:37 AM ET
The six astronauts flying aboard space shuttle Atlantis worked Tuesday to prepare their spacecraft for its final planned return to Earth.
STS-132 mission commander Ken Ham, pilot Dominic "Tony" Antonelli and mission specialists Garrett Reisman, Piers Sellers, Stephen Bowen and Michael Good spent their morning packing supplies, stowing equipment and testing Atlantis' flight control systems, all in an effort to bring the shuttle to a landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Wednesday. Their first opportunity to land, weather permitting, is targeted for 8:48 a.m. EDT (1248 GMT).
"The crew will power up one of the auxiliary power units that provide its hydraulic power to the aerosurfaces on Atlantis and they will check those out along with some navigational aids that are used to find the landing site," described lead shuttle flight director Mike Sarafin on Monday. "Once those are complete, the crew will proceed into some cabin stow activities and Atlantis will be ready to come home."…
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