STS-76 Mission Control Center 
Status Report # 16

Friday, March 29, 1996, 4:00 p.m. CST

The Johnson Space Center Newsroom closes at 5 p.m. CST Friday and will
reopen at 4:30 a.m Saturday for the conclusion of the STS-76 mission.

Astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis this afternoon were getting
their final hours of sleep in space before they make final
preparations for Saturday morning’s planned landing in Florida.

Atlantis is now scheduled to land at 6:57 a.m. CST Saturday at the
Kennedy Space Center. A second opportunity to land at KSC also exists
on Saturday, with an 8:33 a.m. CST touchdown.  Edwards Air Force Base
in California is not being called up to support tomorrow’s landing
attempts, but should weather preclude a Saturday landing at KSC, both
sites will be available for a Sunday landing.

Weather conditions Saturday at KSC are expected to be good for
landing, with only a slight concern for early morning ground fog.
High winds and thunderstorms are expected to move into the area on
Sunday. Weather at Edwards Air Force Base is predicted to be
acceptable on Sunday.  A total of five opportunities are present for a
Sunday landing, two to KSC and three to Edwards.


#  #  #