- VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
- LOCATION: Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3
- OFFICIAL KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: July 23, 1999 at 12:31 a.m. EDT
- KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 27, 1999 at 11:20 p.m. EDT
- MISSION DURATION: 4 days, 23 hours, 50 minutes
- CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 1999 (3:51 PM EDT)
STS-93 -- Chandra X-ray Observatory
NOTE: Space Shuttle Columbia and its five astronaut crew members successfully landed late last night on KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility runway 33, completing its 5 day, 1.8 million mile journey. July 27, 1999 Eastern daylight landing time events are as follow:
Main Gear Touchdown: 11:20:37 p.m. EDT (MET: 4 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes, 37 seconds)
Nose Gear Touchdown: 11:20:44 p.m. EDT (MET: 4 days, 22 hours, 49 minutes, 44 seconds)
Wheels Stop: 11:21:22 p.m. EDT (MET: 4 days, 22 hours, 50 minutes, 22 seconds)
This was the 19th consecutive Shuttle landing at the Florida spaceport and the 12th night landing in Shuttle program history.
Following an early morning press conference, the crew of STS-93 flew back to their homes and families in Houston, TX.
Preliminary indications of the orbiter after touchdown show its lower surface sustained 155 total hits, of which 40 had a major dimension of 1-inch or larger. Further assessments will continue today. The main landing gear tires were reported to be in good condition for a landing on the KSC concrete runway.
Several hours after touchdown, Columbia was towed to orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 where post mission inspections began. Today, workers are off loading the unused onboard cryogenics and safing the vehicle for additional inspections. Tonight, engineers are expected to gain access to the orbiter's main engines. They will then begin preliminary inspections of what early indications show to be a possible small hydrogen leak that occurred during ascent on the No. 3 engine nozzle. A possible source of the leak is from small tubes that circulate hydrogen around the nozzle, cooling the nozzle and conditioning the hydrogen before it is burned.
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