Space shuttle Discovery to land in Mexico?

Los Angeles, Dec 22: NASA sent equipment and ground crews from Florida to a little-used landing strip in New Mexico which, based on weather forecasts, appeared the most likely landing site for the shuttle Discovery today.

The crew was to wake up at about 7:17 a.m. EST (1217 GMT) today and begin about two and a half hours later to suit up and configure the shuttle for landing.

''Based on the forecast, it's pretty obvious that (New Mexico) right now looks the best,'' Norman Knight, shuttle entry flight director, said at a yesterday evening briefing.

The White Sands Space Harbor site in New Mexico has been used for a landing only once -- and that was 24 years ago -- when the shuttle program was just two years old.

Mission managers said they likely would not decide where to land until shortly before the shuttle is due to re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

''The strategy going into tomorrow is to pick a safe landing site, and if it's safe to do so, we'll land the vehicle,'' Knight said.

Mission managers will have a close eye on the weather at all three landing sites on Friday morning, looking for an opportunity to bring Discovery down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it took off on December 9 during an unexpected lull in gusty winds that threatened to scrap the launch.

The shuttle's first landing opportunity comes at 3:56 p.m.

EST (2056 GMT) at Kennedy, which meteorologists predict will be socked in by low clouds and rain.

Longer Turnaround

The shuttle has up to four chances to land at its main backup runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, but a forecast for high winds put that site in doubt.

Conditions were favorable at the Northrup Strip at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

A landing at White Sands means a longer and more costly turnaround for NASA, which is under pressure to finish construction on the International Space Station before 2010, when the shuttle fleet is retired.

The US space agency on Thursday sent about 60 ground crew members and equipment to service the shuttle from Kennedy to the New Mexico landing strip.

The shipments include heated purge lines and power units to keep Discovery's steering thrusters and other critical gear from freezing, generators and equipment to vent its cryogenic fuels.

Columbia landed at White Sands in March 1982 after its third voyage. It sat outside, unprotected, for days, filling with the fine, white sand that gives the place its name.

Sand contamination no longer poses a problem, but landing at White Sands could delay Discovery's next flight, deputy program manager John Shannon said.

''If we land there, we feel like we are going to be in great shape with the vehicle but the turnaround will take longer. I wouldn't be surprised if it took 45 to 60 days,'' Shannon said.

The shuttle must be back on Earth by tomorrow before it runs out of fuels to generate electricity. NASA will delay today's planned landing only if there is an equipment-related problem.

Reuters