[La Enchiladita]

Thanks again. I’m back; where is everyone?
I’ve got NASA-TV on; they went into de-orbit burn on schedule.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

The link for NASA-TV live coverage is halfway down the sidebar at above-linked page.

STS-120 over Australian.... 59 MINUTES TO TOUCHDOWN.

[SE Mom]

THANKS:)

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com

1717 GMT (12:17 p.m. EST)

Discovery has crossed the equator as it flies over the Pacific.

1715 GMT (12:15 p.m. EST)

Onboard guidance has maneuvered Discovery from its heads-down, tail-forward position needed for the deorbit burn to the reentry configuration of heads-up and nose-forward. The nose will be pitched upward 40 degrees. In this new position, the black tiles on the shuttle’s belly and the reinforced carbon-carbon panels on the wing leading edges and nose cap will shield the spacecraft during the fiery plunge through the Earth’s atmosphere with temperatures reaching well over 2,000 degrees F. Discovery will begin interacting with the upper fringes of the atmosphere above the North Pacific at 12:30 p.m. EST.

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Still dark, clear, and 11 degrees here, but we won’t see the Shuttle anyway.