Shuttle cleared for Florida landing

Perspective view of the area around Pasadena, California, just north of Los Angeles. The San Gabriel Mountains are seen across the top of the image. This image was created in part with data gathered by Shuttle Radar Topography Mission

February 22, 2000
Web posted at: 5:20 PM EST

In this story: Crew maps 43.5 million square miles Shuttle pilot enjoys mountain view RELATED STORIES, SITES

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- The space shuttle Endeavour began its journey home on Tuesday. NASA cleared the crew for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:22 p.m. EST.

Brisk winds prevented the shuttle from touching down during the first chance to land 90 minutes earlier, but improving weather conditions convinced mission controllers to authorize the second landing opportunity at KSC.

About an hour before landing, the crew performed an engine burn to take Endeavour out of orbit. When it re-enters the atmosphere, the shuttle experiences temperatures as high as 2,500 degrees F (1,370 degrees C).

The six-member crew wrapped up their Earth scanning mission on Monday, collecting extensive data that will be used to render the most accurate and complete global maps ever made.

	GALLERY
The Earth in High-Res: Space shuttle topography images
	WEATHER FORECASTS
Cape Canaveral, Florida Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. White Sands, New Mexico
	MESSAGE BOARD
Space Shuttle
	CHAT TRANSCRIPT
A chat about the space shuttle Endeavor with Miles O'Brien

If weather had prevented a landing a Kennedy, NASA was prepared to switch to the backup site, Edwards Air Force Base, for a touchdown attempt at 7:48 p.m. EST.

If unable to land at all Tuesday, NASA was prepared to keep the shuttle in orbit another day, then bring it down in an emergency landing Wednesday at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

The only shuttle to have landed at White Sands previously was Columbia, in 1982, after the third shuttle flight. The last time the shuttle ended a mission at Edwards was in 1996; since then 20 consecutive flights have touched down at Kennedy.

The shuttle had enough fuel and power to delay landing until Thursday, if necessary, NASA said.

Despite two equipment problems, NASA rated the mapping portion of the mission a success.

Over nine days, the radar system mapped 43.5 million square miles (69.6 million square kilometers) of terrain at least twice. Multiple imaging is necessary to create 3-D maps of peaks and valleys.

On Monday, the crew spent two tense hours trying to fasten latches inside the canister that stores the radar mast after it retracts. On their fourth try, the astronauts secured the $35 million structure.

Last week, a stabilizing thruster at the mast's end malfunctioned and forced shuttle managers to tweak the fuel outlay so the mapping could continue.

The thruster trouble caused Endeavour to fall a bit short of the goal of mapping 80 percent of the Earth's landforms. About 80,000 square miles (207,200 square kilometers) in scattered areas remained unimaged, most in North America and most already well mapped by other methods.

Early Monday, everything appeared to be going well, though pilot Don Gorie reported a malfunctioning instrument light. Mission Control told him not to worry about it.

Gorie called down, clearly at ease. "It sure would be nice to make another pass like that last one over the Pyrenees and the Alps, they were just incredible," he said.

The crew will return with 332 high-density tapes with map data that could take scientists one or two years to analyze. The 12 terabytes of radar data could fill 20,600 compact discs, NASA said.

NASA's partner, the Defense Department's National Imagery and Mapping Agency, will be the primary recipient of the maps, which it plans to use to aim missiles, guide aircraft and deploy troops with unprecedented precision.

The scientific community will not be able to see all of the data, since some of it will remain classified for national security reasons.

CNN Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien and The Associated Press contributed to this report.