Sunday Looks Good For Landing At Kennedy

Atlantis is staying in orbit for another day...

I can see it now -- you are one of the privileged who have worked your whole life for the one or few times that you actually get to fly into space and once there, NASA tells you that you have to stay in orbit for an extra day or two.

Aw, shucks.

Those that know will testify to the fact that the magnificence that is the view from high-orbit never dulls and if you wonder what they're going to do with all that extra time, I have bit one suggestion -- look out the window and love it/enjoy it/absorb it while it lasts -- as that's where we'd be glued if the opportunity presented itself.

As said above, Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew will stay in space another day after bad weather prevented them from landing Saturday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA Flight Director Norm Knight and the entry team will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting the shuttle to land. If the weather is not acceptable for a return to Kennedy, the team will look to land at the secondary landing site, Edwards Air Force Base in California. Regardless, White Sands Space Harbor is not expected to be activated.

The landing times below are approximate and subject to change. All times are Eastern:

Sunday Landing Opportunities

• 10:11 a.m., Orbit 196, landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 8:58 a.m.)
• 11:40 a.m., Orbit 197, landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 10:25 a.m.)
• 11:49 a.m., Orbit 197, landing at Kennedy (deorbit burn at 10:31 a.m.)
• 01:19 p.m., Orbit 198, landing at Edwards (deorbit burn at 12:08 p.m.)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/shuttle