MISSION CONTROL CENTER
STS-63 Status Report #17


Friday, February 10, 1995, 3 p.m. CST

Shuttle astronauts got one last look at the Russian Space Station Mir
before they return home Saturday, a fitting end to Discovery's
historic 20th flight.

At about 12:35 p.m. Central, Mir performed an on-orbit maneuver during
which STS-63 crew members reported that they could see the station
near the horizon as it trailed behind the orbiter at a distance of 850
nautical miles. To Discovery's payload bay cameras, Mir looked like a
small flashing star.

The sighting occurred as crew members were in the last stages of
putting away their experiments and equipment to configure the orbiter
for Saturday's trip back to Earth.

Discovery is scheduled to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center
Shuttle Landing Facility Saturday, firing its engines at 4:44 a.m. CST
to lead to a touchdown at about 5:51 a.m.  CST. The weather forecast
for Florida is currently favorable for the landing, although flight
controllers will be watching a possibility of low clouds and strong
winds there closely as the forecast is continually updated. Florida's
weather is forecast to deteriorate on Sunday.

Two other landing opportunities exist for Discovery Saturday at
Edwards Air Force Base, Ca., as well. The first, which is unlikely to
be used since it occurs prior to the first Florida opportunity, would
have the shuttle fire its engines at 4:38 a.m. CST leading to a
touchdown at 5:43 a.m. CST. The second opportunity for Edwards occurs
one orbit after the Florida opportunity and would have Discovery fire
its engines at 6:13 a.m. CST leading to a touchdown at 7:19 a.m. CST.
Edward's weather is forecast to be excellent for a landing Saturday ,
and managers may opt to land there if Florida's weather prohibits a
landing.

Discovery also has backup landing opportunities available in both
Florida and California on Sunday.