NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321 867-2468
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
For Release: March 11, 2002

KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham
321-867-2468

KSC RELEASE NO.  19 - 02

NOTE TO EDITORS:
COLUMBIA SCHEDULED TO LAND AT KSC MARCH 12

	The orbiter Columbia is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Tuesday, 
March 12, at about 4:32 a.m. EST completing the nearly 11-day STS-109 mission to 
service the Hubble Space Telescope that launched from KSC March 1, 2002.

	Landing at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) is slated to occur on orbit 165 at mission 
elapsed time 10 days, 22 hours, 10 minutes. The deorbit burn will occur at about 3:22 
a.m. EST.  The first two KSC landing opportunities on March 12 are at 4:32 a.m. EST and 
at 6:13 a.m. EST.

If managers must keep Columbia in orbit an additional day, two landing opportunities are 
available on Wednesday, March 13, at KSC at 2:40 a.m. EST and at 4:21 a.m. EST. Two 
landing opportunities also exist at the back-up landing location at Edwards Air Force Base 
(EAFB), Calif., on Wednesday, at 4:12 a.m. EST and at 5:52 a.m. EST. 

	If landing occurs as scheduled, it will be the 58th landing at KSC in the history of the 
Shuttle program. Following landing, Columbia will be towed to the Orbiter Processing 
Facility for post-mission servicing.

	After touchdown, the crew will be taken to crew 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-109 crew is scheduled to occur at the KSC News Center 
about seven hours after touchdown. The Shuttle crew is scheduled to depart for Johnson 
Space Center later in the afternoon.

	If Columbia 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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