Smooth Shuttle Landing: Discovery’s Back!
By Mazen Alkhamis on Jun 14th, 2008 in Headlines, Space | Add story link to StumbleUpon
The Space Shuttle Discovery and her crew of seven astronauts flew home this morning to a picture-perfect landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Their return to Earth ended the latest construction mission to the International Space Station.
Commander Mark Kelly and Pilot Ken Ham were at the controls of Discovery as it glided through Florida skies to touch down on time at 11:15 a.m. EDT.
Image above: Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Photo credit: NASA/Kevin O’Connell
The crew including Kelly and Ham, along with Mission Specialists Karen Nyberg, Ron Garan, Mike Fossum and Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide spent 14 days in orbit installing the Japanese Pressurized Module to the space station. The module is the largest section of the Japanese laboratory called “Kibo,” or hope. Garrett Reisman also returned onboard Discovery. He spent three months living on the space station.
After a night at Kennedy, the crew will fly to Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA’s next shuttle flight is slated for October when the crew of STS-125 is to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
