Space shuttle Discovery launches.

Good evening gang. If you have clear skies outside your house early Tuesday morning around 7am (give or take a little)… take a little look up into the sky and catch a glimpse of the Space Shuttle Discovery on it’s way back home to Florida.

The first attempt at landing Discovery is expected to take a track that looks like this…

That would basically take it right across the heart of central Kentucky as it moves in from the northwestern sky. Two Sonic booms (from the nose and tail of the shuttle)  accompany these deorbit burns as the shuttle enters the earth’s atmosphere. That is something that would be neat to hear!

Here is the latest from Nasa on the trip back home from this 15 day mission…

2:41 a.m.Deorbit preparations begin
3:48 a.m.Payload bay door closing
3:58 a.m. Mission Control “go” for Ops 3 software transition
5:05 a.m.Discovery astronauts suit up
5:28 a.m. Astronauts strap into their seats
5:55 a.m. Orbital Maneuvering System engine gimbal checks
6:06 a.m.Auxiliary power unit prestart
6:18 a.m.Mission Control “go/no-go” decision for the deorbit burn
6:23 a.m.Maneuver to the deorbit burn attitude
6:28 a.m.Deorbit burn
7:21 a.m. Merritt Island, Fla. tracking station acquires signal from Discovery
7:34 p.m. Landing

Here is hoping the clouds hold off just long enough to allow for a good viewing. If you get some pics or some video… email them to me. 

Take care.