The four-member crew of Discovery and the three Expedition One
crewmembers will return home to Ellington Field, Hangar 990, about 4
p.m. Thursday.
The public is invited to join JSC employees and families in welcoming
the crews back to Earth. Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Jim Kelly, and
Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards and the Expedition One
crewóCommander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer
Sergei Krikalevówill be greeted by Johnson Space Center Acting Director
Roy Estess as they return home to Houston.
Wetherbee, Kelly, Thomas and Richards spent 12 days, 19 hours and 49
minutes on orbit. They conducted a successful rendezvous and docking
with the International Space Station, supported two space walks to
facilitate the first use of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
and installed a station robot arm anchor point. They also witnessed the
first station crew changeout, unloaded 5 tons of equipment and
experiments, and packed up a ton of unneeded station equipment and trash
for return to Earth.
Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev spent 136 days aboard the space station
following their Oct. 31, 2000, launch aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.
The initial spacefarers to live aboard the orbiting outpost, the crew
initiated operation of the station’s systems including activating the
U.S. Destiny Laboratory.
For updates on crew arrival time call 281-483-8600.
