NASA News 
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321 867-2468
___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham	
321-867-2468
								 
For Release: Dec. 14, 2001

KSC RELEASE NO.  136 - 01
ENDEAVOUR SCHEDULED TO LAND AT KSC DEC. 17

	The orbiter Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center
(KSC) Monday, Dec. 17, at about 12:55 p.m. EST completing the nearly 12-day
STS-108 mission to the International Space Station that launched from KSC
Dec. 5, 2001.

	Landing at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) is slated to occur
on orbit 186 at mission elapsed time 11 days, 19 hours, 36 minutes. The
deorbit burn will occur at about 11:52 a.m. EST on Dec. 17. The first two
KSC landing opportunities on Dec. 17 are at 12:55 p.m. EST and at 2:31 p.m.
EST.

If managers must keep Endeavour in orbit an additional day, two landing
opportunities are available on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at KSC at 11:44 a.m. EST
and at 1:19 p.m. EST. Landing opportunities also exist at the back-up
landing location at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), Calif., on both days. 

	If landing occurs as scheduled, it will be the 57th landing at KSC
in the history of the program. Following landing, Endeavour will be towed to
the Orbiter Processing Facility for post-mission servicing.

	About an hour after touchdown, the crew will be taken to their
quarters in the O&C Building, meet with their families and undergo physical
examinations. A post-mission press conference with select members of the
STS-108 crew is scheduled to occur at the KSC News Center about six hours
after touchdown. The Shuttle crew is scheduled to depart for Johnson Space
Center the day following landing. The Expedition Three crew will be flown
back to JSC two days after landing.

	If Endeavour lands at Edwards, an augmented KSC convoy team will be
on-site to safe the vehicle, disembark the crew and move the orbiter to the
Mate/Demate Device. The turnaround team will be deployed to Edwards by
charter aircraft on landing day.

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