If the second attempt is a Go, on Orbit #219, Shuttle commander Rick Sturckow and pilot Lee Archambault will perform a de-orbit burn at about 2:50 p.m. EDT (18:50 GMT) to begin their descent into the Earth’s atmosphere. Atlantis will land at approximately 3:55 p.m. EDT at Kennedy.

If weather conditions do not allow a landing at Florida, STS-117 mission controllers will quickly turn their attentions to the landing strip at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Still in Orbit #219, the astronauts have a possibility to land at Edwards with a de-orbit burn performed at 2:43 p.m. EDT and a landing at 3:55 p.m. EDT.

Two more opportunities to land—a de-orbit burn at about 4:19 p.m. EDT (Orbit #220) and landing at 5:23 p.m. EDT and a de-orbit burn at 5:55 p.m. EDT (Orbit #221) and landing at 6:59 p.m. EDT—are available today at Edwards.

The landing of STS-117 and the Atlantis crew of astronauts will bring a successful conclusion to its construction mission to the International Space Station. Space Shuttle Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the station on June 10th. While at the orbital laboratory, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to make it operational. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired a defective flared out thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod.

Atlantis also delivered a new station crewmember, ISS Expedition 15 flight engineer and U.S. astronaut Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who now hold the record for the longest duration from a single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December 2006 with STS-116.

STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st shuttle mission to visit the space station. The next mission—STS-118—is scheduled to launch on August 18, 2007.

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NASA  Space Shuttle  Weather  William Atkins