Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned to Earth safely Thursday, ending a two-week mission to deliver an addition to the international space station and bring home a crew member from the outpost. Atlantis had to use its backup landing strip in California after rain and clouds over Florida ruled out Kennedy Space Center. "We couldn't quite get comfortable with [Kennedy]," Mission Control told the Atlantis crew. "We are going to target Edwards." The crew executed the landing on its first opportunity at Edwards at 3:49 p.m. ET. Rain and clouds that scrubbed a planned Thursday landing in Florida continued Friday, and NASA waved off the first planned landing there, which would have been at 2:18 p.m. ET. The landing site at Edwards had clear skies, and wind gusts there were not expected to pick up until late in the day. (CNN)
Friday 22 June 2007
Update: Shuttle lands in California
Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned to Earth safely Thursday, ending a two-week mission to deliver an addition to the international space station and bring home a crew member from the outpost. Atlantis had to use its backup landing strip in California after rain and clouds over Florida ruled out Kennedy Space Center. "We couldn't quite get comfortable with [Kennedy]," Mission Control told the Atlantis crew. "We are going to target Edwards." The crew executed the landing on its first opportunity at Edwards at 3:49 p.m. ET. Rain and clouds that scrubbed a planned Thursday landing in Florida continued Friday, and NASA waved off the first planned landing there, which would have been at 2:18 p.m. ET. The landing site at Edwards had clear skies, and wind gusts there were not expected to pick up until late in the day. (CNN)
