Posted: Mon, Jul 23, 2001, 9:28 AM ET (1328 GMT)
Poor weather is increasingly unlikely to delay the landing of the space shuttle Atlantis late Monday night, officials said early Monday. Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 12:37 am EDT (0437 GMT) Tuesday to complete the STS-104 mission. Earlier forecasts had called for a considerable chance of clouds and rain that would prohibit a landing, but as of early Monday shuttle managers said the forecast was now looking "pretty good" for the landing. A second landing attempt at KSC is available at 2:10 am EDT (0610 GMT) if needed, and two opportunities are available late Tuesday night as well. There are also landing opportunities at Edwards Air Force Base in California, but NASA hopes to land Atlantis in Florida to avoid the expense and delays involved with transporting the shuttle from California.

Related Links:

•  STS-104 status report #22
•  Spaceflight Now mission status center
•  AP article about upcoming landing