Discovery Crew Runs Last-Minute ‘Star Wars’ Tests

The astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery squeezed in as many experiments for the Pentagon as possible Sunday as the arduous “Star Wars” research mission drew to a close.

In their last full day in space, the seven astronauts took time to commemorate the 30th anniversary of America’s first manned spaceflight. They crowded in front of a flight deck camera that beamed the scene live.

“Thirty years ago, we were flying one man at a time. Now we’re flying seven or more,” said shuttle commander Michael L. Coats, surrounded by his crew. “So we’re all wondering what it’s going to be like 30 years from now, how many people will be up here in what kind of vehicle.”

Alan B. Shepard Jr. became the first American to fly in space on May 5, 1961. His suborbital trip lasted 15 minutes.

The shuttle is due to return to Earth today. Landing was scheduled for 11:49 a.m. PDT at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The astronauts spent Sunday getting ready to come home and operating two scientific instruments that had been incapacitated for most of the flight.

Also Sunday, the new space shuttle Endeavour, carried piggyback atop a 747 jumbo jet, headed east on the second leg of a trip from the factory in California to the Kennedy Space Center.