'Welcome home, Atlantis'
Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Sunday, ending their exalted Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in California after stormy weather prevented a return to NASA's Florida home base.
Mission Control waited as long as possible for the weather to improve before finally giving up and directing commander Scott Altman and his crew to the Mojave Desert.
Atlantis swooped through a clear morning sky and touched down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base.
"Welcome home, Atlantis," Mission Control radioed once the shuttle came to a safe stop. "Congratulations on a very successful mission giving Hubble a new set of eyes."
"It was a thrill from start to finish," Altman replied. "We've had a great ride."
Text: AP
Image: Space shuttle Atlantis touches down at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California on Sunday, May 24, 2009. (Photograph copyright AP. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited.)
Menik Farm: A safe haven ringed by barbed wire
Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Sunday, ending their exalted Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in California after stormy weather prevented a return to NASA's Florida home base.
Mission Control waited as long as possible for the weather to improve before finally giving up and directing commander Scott Altman and his crew to the Mojave Desert.
Atlantis swooped through a clear morning sky and touched down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base.
"Welcome home, Atlantis," Mission Control radioed once the shuttle came to a safe stop. "Congratulations on a very successful mission giving Hubble a new set of eyes."
"It was a thrill from start to finish," Altman replied. "We've had a great ride."
Text: AP
Image: Space shuttle Atlantis touches down at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California on Sunday, May 24, 2009. (Photograph copyright AP. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited.)
Menik Farm: A safe haven ringed by barbed wire
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