Space shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth for good

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Space shuttle Endeavour and its six astronauts returned to Earth early Wednesday, closing out the next-to-last mission in NASA's 30-year programme with a safe middle-of-the-night landing.

Endeavour glided down onto the runway one final time under the cover of darkness, just as Atlantis, the last shuttle bound for space, arrived at the launch pad for the grand finale in five weeks.

Endeavour, the youngest of the shuttles with 123 million miles over 25 flights, is now bound for a museum in California, shipping out early next year.

Text: AP

Image: Space shuttle Endeavour touches down on runway 15 after completing her final flight at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in the US on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. (Photographs copyright AP)