Ground track for first landing attempt. Maybe you can see it! Credit: NASA

The shuttle Discovery has passed all the safety inspections will be coming home tomorrow morning (providing the weather co-operates – see below) and will be making what is known as a descending node entry.  Basically this means the shuttle will be moving to the southeast during the re-entry.  The descending node entry is quite rare, this is only the second one since the Columbia tragedy.

Provided the weather at KSC is acceptable:
If you live along the ground track (click on the above image to get a better look) you may be treated to seeing Discovery as it comes in for a landing at KSC at 8:48 am ET (the de-orbit burn occurs at 07:43 am ET).

Should the landing be delayed on orbit the de-orbit burn will occur at 09:17 ET with landing at KSC at 10:23 ET.  In the event of a second attempt the ground track shifts somewhat  and you can see it here.

If you are along the flight paths you should start looking about 40 minutes before landing on the northern end of the ground track, 20 minutes for points about half way mark etc.  I will post times if NASA releases them.  Heavens Above might also have them.

Here’s the NOAA forecast for KSC:

Tonight: Showers likely, mainly after 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Monday: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. North northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

The weather may become an issue because among other things the following weather constraints apply:

• Cloud cover should not exceed 25 percent coverage below 8,000 feet and must not be forecast to exceed 50 percent at landing time.
• Crosswinds must be less than 15 knots if the landing is in daylight/12 knots at night.
• No thunderstorms within 30 nautical miles.

Be sure to check the NASA Landing Blog in the morning for the latest.  I will update this post in the morning to reflect the landing status.  This is a great opportunity to see the shuttle overhead during the landing phase of the mission.  You may also see the pair (ISS and shuttle) fly over tonight, check Heavens Above for times.