Endeavour, STS-126 crew lands on temp California runway

William Atkins
Monday, 01 December 2008 03:26

Science - Space

Because of bad weather in Florida, the STS-126 crew of the space shuttle Endeavour landed at its backup landing location at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.


The STS-126 crew's 16-day mission to the International Space Station began on November 14, 2008, at 7:55 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (November 15, 0055 UTC).

The mission ended when it landed on November 30, 2008, at 1:25 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (2125 UTC).

It was docked to the Space Station for over 11 days.

Its primary landing site at the Kennedy Space Center was waved off for its first landing opportunity because of high crosswinds at the runway.

The entry flight director also denied the second landing opportunity at KSC because of unacceptable weather.

However, weather conditions in southern California was fine for the landing. Conseqently, the first landing opportunity available at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) was accepted.

It landed on temporary (and refurbished) runway 22 at Edwards AFB.

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