NASA STS-133 Report #26 Wednesday, March 9, 2011 – 2:45 a.m. CST

Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – If the weather cooperates in Florida, Discovery will roll to its final wheel stop on Kennedy Space Center’s Runway 15 this morning.

The STS-133 crew members woke for what is scheduled to be their last day in space at 2:23 a.m. Their wake up song, chosen by the International Space Station flight control teams that supported them, was “Coming Home” by Gwyneth Paltrow.

The crew is scheduled to begin their deorbit preparations at 5:53 a.m. and close the doors of the shuttle’s cargo bay at 7:12 a.m. The crew will be getting into their orange launch and entry suits at 8:29 a.m. and climbing into their seats at 8:52 a.m.

At 9:42 a.m., the Entry Flight Director Tony Ceccacci is scheduled to conduct his flight control team for a “go” or “no-go” for Discovery’s deorbit burn. Assuming he gets a “go,” Discovery’s engines will fire for its deorbit burn at 9:52 a.m.

That will drop the space shuttle back into Earth’s atmosphere, setting Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott up for a 10:57 a.m. landing.

At that point, space shuttle Discovery will have spent a total of 365 days in space, over the course of 39 missions. It will have orbited the Earth 5,830 times and traveled more than 148 million miles.

If needed, there is a second landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center today at 12:34 p.m. It would require a deorbit burn at 11:29 a.m.

The next status report will be issued after landing or earlier if events warrant.