Space shuttle Discovery lands in California after detour
Shuttle lands in California after detour
, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
September 11, 2009
Photo By Reed Saxon/ASSOCIATED PRESSAfter being unable to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the space shuttle Discovery touches down at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Friday. Discovery astronauts were gone 14 days in a resupply mission to the space station.
Discovery coasted home in the fading light of a California evening on Friday, completing a 14-day mission to the international space station.
“Welcome home Discovery,” said Eric Boe, an astronaut in mission control communicating with the spacecraft. “Congratulations on an extremely successful mission — stepping up science to a new level on the international space station.”
During the resupply mission Discovery's crew delivered nine tons of food, water, scientific equipment and the Colbert treadmill to the station, as well as a new astronaut, Nicole Stott.
She replaced Timothy Kopra, who flew home after 58 days in space.
Mission managers had hoped to land Discovery Thursday, but thunderstorms and high winds at Kennedy Space Center in Florida precluded two landing attempts then.
The weather in Florida was even worse Friday afternoon, so NASA opted to land Discovery at a back-up landing strip at Edwards Air Force Base.
The shuttle will be flown cross country some time next week, but it's not yet known where the shuttle might stop along the way.
The completion of Discovery's mission means that NASA now has just six space shuttle missions left before finishing construction of the $100 billion space station and ending the shuttle program, likely in early 2011.