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CNN Live Today

Endeavour Shuttle Lands at Edwards Air Force Base

Aired June 19, 2002 - 13:56   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments away from shuttle landing now. Our space correspondent Miles O'Brien is here to help us guide it in.

Miles, how close are we? What does it look like?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Let's take a look at the picture. This is Edwards Air Force base, that we are headed toward, the Space Shuttle Endeavour about to land on its 18th mission. This is the 110th shuttle mission in its history, the 14th for the International Space Station. On board, two American record setters, Carl Waltz and Dan Bursch, who spent better than six months on that International Space Station, breaking the U.S. space endurance record.

Take a look at Endeavour as it comes down, at that steep 15- degree angle, five times steeper than a commercial airliner, and then as it gets ready to land, the landing gear coming down. It should be on the ground in about 10 seconds' time for the flare. Commander Ken Cockrell at the controls. Let's listen for a second.

ROB NAVIAS, NASA: Main gear touchdown.

O'BRIEN: All right, the voice of Rob Navias in Houston, NASA Public Affairs.

You see the drag chute deploying; another smooth landing for the Space Shuttle Endeavour. That five-mile runway at Edwards Air Force base is its destination today. The reason, the weather just plain old stunk at the Kennedy Space Center.

It is absolutely pristine at Edwards Air Force base, ceiling and visibility unlimited, as pilots like to say, the term is CAVU. The commander has had kind of a spotty record when it comes to weather. He's had weather delays on all of his commanding missions, this his third as commander. He was talking this morning about how it felt a little bit like Groundhog Day. He wanted to go to Florida. Instead he is in California.

Nevertheless, I'm sure he is glad to be on terra firma. And certainly, those space record-holders, others from Russia with them, along with Carl Waltz and Dan Bursch, happy to be home and certainly feeling every bit of the force of gravity right now as the shuttle rolls to a stop at Edwards Air force base -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, cool pictures. Thanks Miles.

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