NASA Plans For Earlier Return

Concerns over Hurricane Dean's projected path led NASA Saturday to make plans for an early end to Space Shuttle Endeavor's space station assembly flight.

Astronauts Dave Williams and Clay Anderson performed the final spacewalk of the STS-118 mission Saturday afternoon, during which they installed an External Wireless Instrumentation System antenna to the International Space Station, installed a stand for the shuttle's robotic arm extension boom.

They also had time for a quick gaze at the Category 4 hurricane causing so many problems. The spacewalk was cut short by two hours, to give the spacewalkers enough time to return to the station, in preparation of closing the hatches connecting the shuttle with the ISS.

While original plans called for STS-118 to land on Wednesday, Hurricane Dean appears to be heading toward Houston... and NASA wants to make sure the shuttle arrives back on Earth before Mission Control closes down in preparation for the storm. The control facility now watching over space station and shuttle operations is located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

"Hurricane Dean certainly has the potential to be a threat to us in the Gulf Coast area," said LeRoy Cain, who chaired NASA's mission management team.

According to the Houston Chronicle, plans are to undock from the International Space Station early Sunday morning.

A key part of landing preparations will be one last inspection of Endeavour's heat shield. The shuttle crew will use cameras and lasers mounted to the spacecraft's robotic arm to search for any damage. Once the inspection is complete, the STS-118 crew will begin re-entry preparations, with a planned touchdown at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday at 1130 CDT.

NASA will attempt to have the Endeavour land in Florida, though plans are also being made for possible landings at back-up sites, such as Edwards Air Force Base in California and White Sands, NM.

If Hurricane Dean does in fact hit Houston, NASA has plans to move key flight director personnel to the Kennedy Space Center where they could assist in Endeavor's return. Control of the space station would be handled by a NASA team at Russia's Mission Control, which is just outside Moscow.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html