Shuttle Faces Visibility, Mechanical Woes in Landing

The shuttle Atlantis faces a tricky landing today, when it will contend with ground fog, a leaking hydraulic system that controls its landing gear and two failed jet thrusters.

Even so, NASA official Bob Castle said Friday that he expects the landing to go well. He said the shuttle can land in crosswinds of up to 17 mph but NASA has decided winds should not exceed 11.5 mph under these circumstances.

The weather at Kennedy should be well within those limits. At the time, light winds, ground fog and scattered clouds at 1,000 feet and 20,000 feet are forecast.

“The only concern is visibility,” Castle said. “We think the fog will burn off as soon as the sun comes up.” Atlantis has two chances to land at the space center, at 4:56 a.m. and 6:33 a.m. PST.

The voyage got off to a shaky start but achieved its key goals of delivering U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid, 53, to the Russian space station Mir and completing a spacewalk to attach experiments to the station.

The leak in Atlantis’ hydraulic system was discovered shortly after the shuttle blasted off March 22. The malfunctioning system is one of three that controls the wing flaps, brakes and rudder.

The other problem was discovered early Friday when two maneuvering jets failed to fire and a third started to leak. The shuttle has 36 maneuvering jets.

NASA will direct the landing from its new flight control room in Houston. Using the room “is a significant step up,” Castle said. “It is the first major upgrade of the control center in 30 years.”