Live Landing Coverage

NASA's Mission Control in Houston has given the crew of Discovery the "go" to begin the deorbit burn and land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. During the burn, a backward-flying Discovery fires its engines to slow the ship. The loss of energy causes the vehicle to fall below the speed needed to orbit and starts the descent.

Here you can follow the Landing minute by minute. (Don't forget to refresh the page every few minutes.

Note: It is 14.26 here in Turkey at the moment; that means it is 7.26 at California... ;)

7:20 a.m. (EDT) - Part of Discovery's reaction control system, the rear steering jets control the orbiter during the early part of descent. As the orbiter transitions from spacecraft to aircraft, those jets are phased out as air pressure builds, and the orbiter's aerosurfaces become active.

7:12 a.m. - Over the next 30 minutes, Discovery will free-fall until it reaches Entry Interface, about 75 miles over the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Current altitude is 220 statute miles. Post burn procedures are in work. Touchdown is one hour away.