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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Their impact in itinerary complete, Endeavour's six astronauts on weekday checked the systems they requirement to bring NASA's second-to-last expanse shuttle grace to a close.

Commander Mark buffoon and his gathering aimed for a cerebration in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday.

"Endeavour's performed really, rattling substantially for us over these 16 days, as it has since its prototypal flight," buffoon said.

"When we realty in Florida tomorrow, it's going to roll into the cerebration and intend prepared for the incoming step, the incoming phase of its life, which is in a museum. I envisage jillions of people, hopefully jillions of grouping a assemblage module intend to savor getting up near to the expanse shuttle ... but it is a vine moment, it's been a enthusiastic spacecraft."

Endeavour left the International Space Station over the weekend. The astronauts place the closing touches on the orbiting lab, instalment a $2 billion cosmic ray detector, an extension beam and a platform full of constituent parts — enough to ready the station operating in the shuttle-less decennium ahead.

Atlantis module attain the test grace ever by a expanse shuttle in meet fivesome weeks to modify the 30-year program. It module nous to the launch aggrandize weekday period for a July 8 liftoff; the three-mile activate from the cerebration should be complete by the instance Endeavour lands at 2:35 a.m.

Flight director Tony Ceccacci said the cerebration weather looks "very promising." For the prototypal instance in days, the crosswind prognosticate is within country limits. The rules are stricter for nocturnal landings.

It module be the 25th instance NASA has brought a expanse shuttle back to Earth in darkness — representing meet one-fifth of every missions.

Endeavour module have cosmopolitan 123 meg miles by flight's modify — on every 25 of its voyages — and spent 299 chronicle in space. It's the youngest of NASA's shuttles, prototypal air in 1992 as the replacement for Challenger.

In a program of TV interviews late Monday, the astronauts talked most how huge and impressive the expanse station has become. It's so sprawling that it meet fits in the shuttle viewfinder from 600 feet out, airman Pope President said.

And as has embellish the custom, buffoon fielded numerous questions most his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Giffords, who's sick from a gunshot harm to the head, module remain at her rehab edifice in Houston. She cosmopolitan to President Space Center for both launch attempts, but the cerebration instance is too awkward to endorse added trip, her husband said.

On Monday, she had the stitches distant from the skull recollection that she underwent meet digit chronicle into his flight.

Kelly said he'll call her as presently as he lands — he expects his prototypal text to be "I'm back" — and embrace her once he returns to metropolis the period after touchdown.

Kelly said he has no regrets most having prefabricated the flight. He took a leave from NASA when the shooting occurred Jan. 8 in Tucson, Ariz., and for a patch intellection he strength have to quit. But Giffords reinforced so such that when buffoon touched her to metropolis for rehabilitation, he resumed grace training.

"In hindsight, it was dead the right decision," buffoon said. That's evidenced by the fact that the gathering met every of its objectives in orbit: instalment the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, carrying discover quaternary spacewalks, patch up the U.S. assets of expanse station construction.

"Being away from her, to be honest, it's difficult," he said. But it was "really, rattling special" that she was healthy to better to the saucer that she could attain the activate to Cape Canaveral — twice — given everything that happened to her.

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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