Space Shuttle Discovery Concludes Mission STS-102 With Kennedy Space Center Landing

By Cliff Lethbridge

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL (March 21, 2001) - Space Shuttle Discovery concluded Mission STS-102 with a landing at Kennedy Space Center Runway 15 at 2:31 a.m. EST today. This marked the 54th Space Shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center and the 17th night landing in the history of the Space Shuttle program. Unofficial mission duration was listed as 12 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes. The mission was extended one day to allow the crew more time to properly stow items returned to Earth aboard the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). Discovery landed at the second Kennedy Space Center landing opportunity. The first landing opportunity was waived due to a forecast for high crosswinds and rain showers in the vicinity of the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). STS-102 was the first Space Shuttle mission to employ an MPLM to ferry supplies and equipment to and from the International Space Station (ISS). It was also the first Space Shuttle flight to carry a permanent crew to ISS. The ISS Expedition One crew of William Shepherd, Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko, launched to ISS aboard a Russian rocket, were returned to Earth aboard Discovery. The ISS Expedition Two crew of James Voss, Susan Helms and Yury Usachev embarked to ISS during the mission.

Copyright © 2001 by Spaceline, Inc.