The Space Shuttle Discovery will return a day late from its latest mission to the International Space Station. Discovery is now scheduled to land on Monday April 19th, at 8:54 AM EDT, which is about 1254 UTC.
The reason for the delay is that Discovery will undergo another inspection of its heat shield. A couple of space walks are still on tap for the crew as they continue to work an an ammonia tank outside of the International Space Station. The shuttle offloaded several tons of equipment, along with a number of new science experiments when it docked with the International Space Station last week.
The shuttle fleet is due to be retired in the fall of 2010, and with only three remaining missions on tap for the shuttle program, Monday's landing will be one of your last chances to see the shuttle land. It will be sad to see the program retired, but it is about time NASA start incorporating new technologies into the space program.
Budget cuts by the Obama Administration will make this task more difficult, but this is going to be a challenge that will be faced by all government agencies in the coming years.
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