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CNN Live Today

Endeavor Waiting, Watching Weather for Landing Opportunity

Aired June 19, 2002 - 10:32   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Mission controllers at NASA are pinning their hopes on some clear skies and calmer winds today over Kennedy Space Center. After two days of weather delays, they're hoping that the Space Shuttle Endeavor is going to be finally able to land today.

Let's check in now with our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien. He has got all the details -- hello, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Leon, I was listening to the air-to-ground communication a little bit ago, and the commander, Ken Cockrell said, "feels like Ground Hog Day to me."

Well, Ken Cockrell knows a little bit about Ground Hog Day. On his last two shuttle missions that he commanded, he has had to wait until the third day to attempt to land, all because of bad weather.

Let's take a look at Mission Control. This is the man in the hot seat right now, flight director John Shannon. He is the one making the call, and it is going to go right down to the wire. As you look at their view in Mission Control to that blob of weather over Tampa, Saint Petersburg, and let's take a look at our radar picture here at the CNN Weather Center, and give you a sense of exactly what's going on.

That is convective activity, as they call it. That means thundershowers with lightning storms, which could cause some difficulty for the crew. The trick is, is it headed in this direction, because around the Kennedy Space Center, right there, there is a 30-mile disk. If there are any thunderstorms, thunder clouds, or clouds that might generate lightning in that 30-mile disk, the landing is no-go in Florida.

So, the crew is ready. They're strapped in. They have drunk liquids as they often do -- or they always do, before they land in order to minimize the effects of returning to earth after being in zero gravity for a long time. Take a look, however, at the other option, which is Edwards Air Force Base, just outside of Los Angeles. Actually, a couple of hours outside of Los Angeles in the high desert.

The fabled Edwards Air Force Base is the backup landing facility for the Space Shuttle Endeavor today, and the reason you don't see any clouds there -- there is no weather there. The weather is just perfect out there, so if the opportunity, at 12:27 Eastern time, doesn't work out for the Kennedy Space Center, about 90 minutes later, we are going to see a landing at Edwards Air Force Base. We will keep you posted on that.

Now, the reason that NASA is trying as hard as it can, as John Shannon is hoping to get that space shuttle back to Florida is, first of all, look at this shot. That is called the Shuttle Transport Aircraft. That's a modified 747 with a space shuttle atop it. To get to this point, and get this bird back to Florida is one million dollars, each time. So NASA does its best every time to return the space shuttle to Florida so they don't have to deploy a crew, fly that 747 out, and lose about five days in their timeline in processing the orbiter for the next flight.

Now, on board Space Shuttle Endeavor, the Expedition Four crew of the International Space Station, which now is well into a record- setting flight. They have eclipsed Shannon Lucid's record of 188 days. They're now at about 195 days and some change.

To your left is Dan Bursch, to your far right, Carl Walz, the two American members of the crew. Commander Onufrienko already has done longer than this, and this is not a record for him.

The Russian record, the total space endurance record for the world, was set in 1994 aboard Mir, and that was 438 days. Shannon Lucid, who spent some time on Mir in 1996, 188 days and some change, says she's just fine with this record being broken. There you see Shannon aboard Mir, part of her long effort. She still will hold the international endurance record for any female astronaut.

So she loses one record, Leon, but she's still in the record books.

HARRIS: All right. But final question, just to try to stump the chump here -- What happens, Miles -- and I mean that affectionately -- what happens if they get to Thursday, and the weather doesn't cooperate in either Edwards Air Force Base or in Kennedy, where else could they possibly land the shuttle?

O'BRIEN: Well, they -- believe it or not, there are literally dozens of emergency landing strips for the Space Shuttle Endeavor all over the world. Orlando International Airport, being one of them, quite frankly. How would you like to see that? That would do a number on your flight delays if the shuttle came to visit one day. But that's obviously in an emergency situation.

The weather is good at Edwards, the shuttle is coming home today, it's just a question of where. Eventually, they have to come home because they run out the so-called cryogenic fuels, the liquid hydrogen and oxygen that is in those fuel cells that powers the space shuttle in orbit. And tomorrow, Thursday, is about the end of that, although they could start unplugging some things and turning some devices off.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, now. Miles, one day you will have to get me some video of how they get that shuttle on top of the plane, though. I want to see how that happens.

O'BRIEN: That would be a good picture. We'll get that for you. HARRIS: All right. Good deal. Thanks, Miles.

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