The ferry flight team plans to meet at 8 a.m. EDT Monday to evaluate the latest weather conditions and set a take off time for the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with shuttle Discovery on top and NASA’s C-9 “pathfinder” support aircraft.
Weather permitting, the team is targeting a possible 10 a.m. EDT departure from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. Depending on real time weather and air traffic conditions, that could have Discovery back at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida by early Monday afternoon.
Discovery arrived at Barksdale at 6:39 p.m. EDT.
Barksdale was today’s third stop for Discovery. The cross-country ferry flight to Kennedy began this morning with a 9:20 a.m., departure from Edwards Air Force Base in California. That was followed by refueling stops at Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, Texas and Ft. Worth Naval Air Station, Texas.
If the weather cooperates, the ferry flight team members plan to finish their 2,500 mile trip by returning to Kennedy tomorrow with no additional stops.