Monday, August 8 2005 12:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Houston: Discovery astronauts were in an upbeat mood on their final day in space as they readied the shuttle for return to earth but remembered Columbia's seven crew members, including India-born Kalpana Chawla, who were killed during re-entry two years back.

"Discovery is in absolutely great shape and I'm pretty confident about the entry (into the atmosphere) and I'm thinking about the landing," shuttle commander Eileen Collins said in interviews to TV stations from space.

As Collins and pilot James Kelly get a go ahead from the mission managers, they will fire up two orbital jets at 1310 IST for three minutes and seven seconds each to lose altitude to begin re-entry into the atmosphere.

Hurtling down to earth at a speed of over 25,000 kms per hour, the shuttle will conduct several acrobatic manoeuvres to slow down to about 300 kms per hour for landing at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida at 1417 IST.

In the event weather prevents landing the shuttle will begin de-orbit burn about 90 minutes later.

The weatherman has forecast favourable conditions with good visibility and only a slight chance of showers over the water in the vicinity of the three-mile-long landing strip.

Discovery un-docked from the International Space Station on Saturday (August 6, 2005), after re-stocking the orbital lab with supplies and clearing it of trash.

The shuttle astronauts Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi carried out three space walks to test new shuttle repair techniques developed after the tragic Columbia disaster.

"I have had a lot of thoughts about Columbia and I will have thoughts after the landing," said Collins referring to the mid-air disintegration of the space shuttle on February 1, 2003.

Discovery was launched into space on July 26, 2005 to test changes made to the shuttle since the Columbia disaster, including improvements to prevent insulation foam from breaking off upon launch.

NASA managers and the shuttle crew have termed the mission as a complete success.

However, Discovery launch too had its share of scares as some insulation foam had come off from the external tanks of the shuttle as it blasted into orbit.

Robinson became the first astronaut ever to carry out a space walk beneath the shuttle during orbit. He extracted two pieces of thermal blanket protruding out from under the cockpit.

The insulation foam flying from the external tank and the cockpit prompted NASA to ground all future space flights indefinitely.

The mission, originally scheduled to last 12 days, was extended by a day to enable the crew to transfer as much material and provisions as possible to the space station.

Onboard the Station, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA Station Science Officer John Phillips have returned to their normal schedule.

Collins, Kelly and Mission Specialist Steve Robinson, who also serves as Discovery's Flight Engineer, and Mission Specialist Andy Thomas will be on the flight deck for landing.

Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi, Wendy Lawrence and Charlie Camarda will be on the shuttle's middeck.