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The space shuttle Atlantis returned to the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida before dawn Thursday, bringing a successful end to a mission that
resumed the long-delayed construction of the International Space Station.
After a mission whose beginning, and ending, was plagued with
a number of delays, the space shuttle Atlantis fired its engines early
Thursday morning to leave orbit and return to Earth.
From their vantage point several hundred kilometers above, the crew
members of the International Space Station watched as Atlantis re-entered
Earth's atmosphere and streaked over the Gulf of Mexico, and radioed their
impressions back to ground controllers.
"Spectacular lightning flashes directly below the orbiter, there, just
spectacular," crewmembers said. "That's really, cool, guys. The glow of
the orbiter itself getting dimmer, but the contrail's still very bright."
Just moments later, Atlantis safely touched down at its landing site at
the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"Touchdown. Drag chute deployed. Nose
gear touchdown. Wheels stop, Houston. We copy, wheels
stop, welcome back, congratulations on return to assembly."
The
landing ended a successful 12-day mission that resumed the long-delayed
construction on the International Space Station. Atlantis was originally
scheduled to blast off from Florida in late-August, but the launch was
postponed a number of times because of bad weather and equipment problems.
It was scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, but debris found
floating outside the vehicle, as well as inclement weather over Florida, prompted
officials with the U.S. space agency NASA to keep it in orbit for an extra
day. The crew spent the extra day inspecting the vehicle looking for any
damage.
During the mission to the space station, the astronauts conducted three
complex spacewalks to attach a giant array of solar panels that will boost
the station's power.
Construction on the space station has been delayed since 2003, when the
space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
The crew of space shuttle Atlantis had been training for this flight when
the Columbia disaster occurred, and had to wait while NASA redesigned the
shuttle's external fuel tank, and implemented several new in-flight safety
procedures.
Atlantis commander Brent Jett says the long wait was just as
challenging as the actual flight itself.
"This crew is a great group of folks, but you can't stay in training
for four years, and train at a very high level," said Brent Jett. "So, I
think that it was probably more of a challenge during the four years to
prepare, bring the crew to a peak at the correct time for launch, and, I
mean it all worked out."
Michael Griffin, administrator of NASA, says the mission of Atlantis
shows the agency is moving forward.
"You've seen a great effort on NASA's part by a truly great team of
people," said Michael Griffin. "I think it is obvious to me and I hope
it's obvious to you that we are rebuilding the kind of momentum that we
have had in the past and that we need if we are gonna finish the space
station. Because we have an awesome task ahead of us."
The next construction mission to the International
Space Station is scheduled for December. On that flight, the space shuttle
Discovery will deliver another giant truss for the orbital outpost, as
well as a scientific laboratory. It will be the 20th time a shuttle has
flown to the space station.
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