Discovery Scheduled to Land at KSC Aug. 22

The orbiter Discovery is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center
(KSC) Wednesday, Aug. 22, at about 12:46 p.m. EDT completing the nearly
12-day STS-105 mission to the International Space Station that launched from
KSC Aug. 10, 2001.

Landing at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) is slated to occur
on orbit 185 at mission elapsed time 11 days, 19 hours, 36 minutes. The
deorbit burn will occur at about 11:41 a.m. EDT on Aug. 22. The first two
KSC landing opportunities on Aug. 22 are at 12:46 p.m. EDT and at 2:23 p.m.
EDT.

If managers must keep Discovery in orbit an additional day, two landing
opportunities are available on Thursday, Aug. 23, at KSC at 11:48 a.m. EDT
and at 1:24 p.m. EDT.

Landing opportunities also exist at the back-up landing location at Edwards
Air Force Base (EAFB), Calif., on both days. The opportunities on Aug. 22
are at 2:17 p.m. EDT and at 3:53 p.m. EDT. On Aug. 23, landing
opportunities at EAFB are possible at 2:55 p.m. EDT and at 4:32 p.m. EDT.

If landing occurs as scheduled, it will be the 56th landing at KSC
in the history of the program. Following landing, Discovery will be towed to
the Orbiter Processing Facility and for post-mission servicing.

Following landing, 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-105 crew is
scheduled to occur at the KSC News Center about six hours after touchdown.
The crew is scheduled to depart for Johnson Space Center the day following
landing.

If Discovery 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.

— end of general release –

NOTICE TO EDITORS: The KSC press site will open for landing activities at 8
a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22. Accredited news media wishing to view Discovery’s
landing should be at the KSC News Center prior to 11:45 a.m. for transport
to the SLF. Additional information regarding landing photo opportunities,
post-landing press conferences with the STS-105 crew, and News Center
operational hours is available by calling the KSC News Center at
321-867-2468.

SLF and KSC Ground Operations

The Shuttle Landing Facility was built in 1975. It is 300 feet wide
and 15,000 feet long with 1,000-foot overruns at each end. The strip runs
northwest to southeast and is located about three miles northwest of the
525-foot tall Vehicle Assembly Building.

Once the orbiter is on the ground, safing operations will commence
and the flight crew will prepare the vehicle for post-landing operations.
The Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV) will be used to assist the crew, allowing
them to leave the vehicle and remove their launch and re-entry suits easier
and quicker.

The CTV and other KSC landing convoy operations have been “on-call”
since the launch of Discovery. The primary functions of the Space Shuttle
recovery convoy are to provide immediate service to the orbiter after
landing, assist crew egress, and prepare the orbiter for towing to the
Orbiter Processing Facility about three hours following touchdown.

Convoy vehicles are stationed at the SLF’s mid-point. About two
hours prior to landing, convoy personnel will don SCAPE suits, or
Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble, and communications checks
are made. A warming-up of coolant and purge equipment is conducted and
nearly two-dozen convoy vehicles are positioned to move onto the runway as
quickly and as safely as possible once the orbiter coasts to a stop. When
the vehicle is deemed safe of all potential explosive hazards and toxic
gases, the purge and coolant umbilical access vehicles move into position at
the rear of the orbiter.

Following purge and coolant operations, flight crew egress
preparations will begin and the CTV will be moved into position at the crew
access hatch located on the orbiter’s port side. A physician will board the
Shuttle and conduct a brief preliminary examination of the astronauts. The
crew will then make preparations to leave the vehicle.