Endeavour lands safely in California
Monday, 01 Dec 2008 09:05
Touchdown for Endeavour
Science In Focus
Click here for top tips on making environmental practices work for your business, on inthenews.co.uk. Full Story
Space shuttle Endeavour landed safely in California yesterday, despite a last-minute change in its landing destination.
Bad weather forced the shuttle to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California instead of the shuttle's primary end-of-mission landing site at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It landed at 13:25 local time (21:25 GMT).
As a result it will be transported back to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo jet in around a week's time, a journey of around 2,500 miles, in preparation for its next scheduled flight in May 2009.
Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station (ISS), its 22nd flight, lasted 16 days and saw commander Chris Ferguson and his crew travel over 6.6 million miles.
The 'home improvements' mission involved the installation of additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet and an exercise device. The ISS is preparing to house six crew members on long-duration stays from next year.
The mission also saw important repair work on the ISS' two solar alpha rotary joints and new hardware to be used in future assembly missions.
The next space shuttle mission is expected to see the final pair of solar arrays delivered and installed. Space shuttle Discovery will lift off on February 12th under current plans.