Shuttle to Land Monday at Edwards
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE — Calling all shuttle watchers: Monday is it.
The last scheduled Southern California shuttle landing--for at least the next 14 months--is slated for early Monday morning at Edwards Air Force Base.
Because of road construction in the area of the usual public viewing site, spectators will be able to watch the shuttle Columbia land from NASA’s hillside viewing area. The site is usually reserved for the space agency’s invited guests and offers a closer, elevated vantage point for watching the orbiter making its descent.
Columbia will announce its return to Earth after a 14-day life sciences mission with its characteristic double sonic boom moments before the planned 7:08 a.m. landing in the California desert.
It is the last scheduled landing at Edwards through the end of 1994, NASA spokesman Don Nolan said. All nine shuttle missions planned for 1994 are scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center. The Florida landings save NASA an estimated $1 million per mission.
Edwards Air Force Base will be open to shuttle watchers in self-contained RVs 24 hours before the shuttle landing, a base spokesman said. Spectators in other vehicles will be allowed on the base 12 hours before the landing.
It is recommended that viewers arrive at least two hours before the scheduled landing.
Recorded information about the shuttle landing is available at (805) 258-3520.
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