Mission Status #23

                         MISSION CONTROL STATUS
                        STS-49 Status Report #23

May 15, 1992, 10:00 p.m. Friday CDT

The crew of Endeavour spent their last full day in orbit preparing
their spacecraft for the hour-long journey back to Earth tomorrow.

The key activities of the day included a detailed checkout of
Endeavour's flight control surfaces, checkout of a new backup nosewheel
steering system, and a brief firing of the attitude control thrusters.
All went smoothly with the exception that one of those thrusters
developed a small leak after firing.  After the system thermally
restabilized, the leak cleared up and is not considered a factor for
entry and landing.

Weather predictions for landing at Edwards AFB tomorrow are currently
favorable for the first opportunity at 3:57 p.m. central time.  Winds
are expected to pick up there later in the day which could hinder two
later landing opportunities.  Weather at the Kennedy Space Center
landing site in Florida is expected to be marginal tomorrow afternoon
but could improve for a later landing opportunity there at 5:43 p.m.
CDT, should California winds not cooperate.

Weather for Sunday and Monday at both sites is expected to be less
favorable.  Edwards could be effected by a cold front moving into the
southern California area, and KSC by a tropical wave that could bring
rain to the area.

At Intelsat headquarters in Washington, D.C., work to position the
Intelsat VI satellite in it's operational orbit continues to go well.
Early next week, the satellite's orbit will be circularized at
geostationary altitude - 22,300 miles.

The Endeavour crew will head for bed at 11:40 pm tonight and will be
awakened to prepare for the journey home at 7:40 am tomorrow.  Assuming
a landing at Edwards at 3:58 pm central time, the crew is expected to
arrive home in Houston, at Ellington Field, at about 3 pm Sunday