By IANS
Washington : US space shuttle Atlantis, bringing back Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams from her space odyssey, will try to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California Friday after bad weather forced it to abort its first landing attempt in Florida.
Rain showers at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, forced flight controllers to postpone the first landing attempt slated for 2.16 p.m. (11.46 p.m. IST). On Thursday, bad weather had forced postponement of the landing twice.
The weather has failed to improve at Florida, US space agency NASA said.
The next landing opportunity is at 3.55 p.m. local time (around 1.20 a.m. IST).
Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault are scheduled to perform the de-orbit engine burn at 2.43 p.m. to begin the descent for a 3.49 p.m. landing at Edwards.
Flight controllers and forecasters with the Spaceflight Meteorology Group continue to monitor the weather at both landing facilities. Two more opportunities – 5.23 p.m. and 6.59 p.m. — are available Friday at Edwards.
Landing will bring to an end a successful construction mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis launched June 8 and arrived at the station on June 10.
If Atlantis had landed on Thursday, Sunita Williams would have logged 193 days, 16 hours and 8 minutes. She has not only set an endurance record for the longest space flight by a woman during her very first space journey, but with four excursions spread over 29 hours and 17 minutes also broke one for most space walks by a woman.
Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced Williams.