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CNN Live Today

Shuttle Atlantis Prepares Return Home

Aired April 19, 2002 - 12:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now, back here at home and way up in the sky. The Shuttle Atlantis is returning home, more than a week in space. Miami Bureau Chief John Zarrella joins us now with our down to earth coverage. John, seven crewmembers onboard after 11 days at the International Space Station and they come back a few pounds lighter, don't they?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Boy that's right Fredricka, and look there, the shot that we're looking at right now is the Shuttle Atlantis returning from its 25th space shuttle flight, approaching -- this is what the Commander Michael Bloomfield and Pilot Stephen Frick are looking at, as they are lining up on the runway there at the Kennedy Space Center, that is Runway 33, and again it was an 11-day mission, very successful 11-day mission.

The 25th flight, as I mentioned of the space shuttle Atlantis, and this is the 59th landing at the Kennedy Space Center since shuttles first began to fly back in 1980-81 when they first flew.

Now during that 11-day mission, of course, three space walks, more than 25 hours in space to continue to expand the international space station. There again a shot, as Atlantis cruising in and beautiful day in Florida, landing there at the Kennedy Space Center. You see the chase plane over the top, wheel gear down, the nose is up.

Maybe we can listen in here for a second to the voice of the astronauts as they make this landing. The chute has now been deployed. Atlantis is down. Usually there's a little bit more conversation between the folks on the ground and the shuttle crew.

They were very quiet today, but it looks from all appearances as a very, very smooth landing of Atlantis, again 11 days in space, those three space walks, more than 25 hours in space, where they installed -- the main part of that mission to install the S-O truss, which is really the beginning of a giant backbone, a new backbone on the space station.

Eventually, when all the pieces of the truss are in place end-to- end, it will extend about 360 feet, more than a football field long, and there will be an acre, an acre of solar arrays attached to that so that they can add some more international modules. The European and Japanese laboratory will be going up in the future, and they'll need the power for that. So again, Space Station Atlantis successfully returning to earth at the Kennedy Space Center after an 11-day mission. This is John Zarrella reporting live from Miami. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, John, how remarkable to be able to look at that as its happening, and the point of view of the pilots as they come in for that landing at the Kennedy Space Center, and as John said, the 59th landing at that Kennedy Space Center and we got a chance to see it live.

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