NASA delays return of STS-125: Bad weather

William Atkins
Friday, 22 May 2009 18:55

Science - Space

Because of a storm front lingering over Florida, NASA has delayed the landing of the space shuttle Atlantis crew after successfully repairing and servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. Let's try again on Saturday, May 23, 2009.



The NASA media brief, NASA’s Space Shuttle Landing Delayed By Weather states “Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew will stay in space another day after bad weather prevented them from landing Friday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

The next opportunity to land at KSC is at 9:16 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Saturday, May 23, 2009. Another possibility is at 10:54 a.m. EDT, also at KSC.

If needed, the shuttle could land at Edwards Air Force Base, in California, at 10:46 a.m. EDT, and 12:24 p.m. EDT.

The article also states, “If Atlantis does not land Saturday, there are multiple landing opportunities Sunday at Kennedy, Edwards, or White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.”

The following landing times (EDT) are possible for Saturday and Sunday, May 23 and 24:

Saturday Landing Opportunities

9:16 a.m. Orbit 180 landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 8:02 a.m.)
10:46 a.m. Orbit 181 landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 9:29 a.m.)
10:54 a.m. Orbit 181 landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 9:46 a.m.)
12:24 p.m. Orbit 182 landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 11:12 a.m.)

Sunday Landing Opportunities

10:01 a.m. Orbit 196 landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 8:42 a.m.)
10:04 a.m. Orbit 196 landing at White Sands (deorbit burn at 8:46
a.m.)
10:10 a.m. Orbit 196 landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 8:57 a.m.)
11:39 a.m. Orbit 197 landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 10:24 a.m.)
11:42 a.m. Orbit 197 landing at White Sands (deorbit burn at 10:29
a.m.)
11:48 a.m. Orbit 197 landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 10:42 a.m.)