STS-125 MCC Status Report #20 – Thursday, May 21, 2009 – 2:30 a.m. CDT

The crew of Atlantis will spend the day preparing the shuttle for tomorrow’s return home. The crew woke up this morning at 2:04 a.m. CDT to “Cantina Band,” one of composer John Williams’ songs from the soundtrack to “Star Wars.” The song was played for the entire crew.

Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialist Megan McArthur will check out the flight control surfaces of Atlantis, including the rudder and the wing flaps at 5:11 a.m. Those surfaces will guide the shuttle’s unpowered flight through the atmosphere to a landing. Immediately afterward, at 6:21 a.m., the astronauts will test fire Atlantis’ reaction control system thrusters. The thrusters will control the shuttle’s orientation as it descends and begins its re-entry through the atmosphere.

Mission Specialists Mike Good, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Drew Feustel will begin stowing away everything inside Atlantis and preparing the shuttle for the return trip. Landing is targeted for 9:01 a.m. tomorrow at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After lunch, the crew will talk with Senator Barbara Mikulski and other members of the U.S. Senate at 11:31 a.m. At 1:41 p.m., the crew will talk with reporters from ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC and CNN.

The crew is due to go to sleep at 5:01 p.m. and will wake at 1:01 a.m. to begin the procedures for landing. The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s day or earlier if events warrant.