Space shuttle Discovery lands in Florida

Last Updated: Wednesday, November 7, 2007 | 1:10 PM ET

CBC News

The space shuttle Discovery touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 1:02 p.m. ET Wednesday afternoon, concluding a 15-day mission to the International Space Station that saw the crew repair a ripped solar wing and complete four spacewalks.

In this image from NASA TV, the stabilizer and payload bay on the space shuttle Discovery are seen against the Earth on Tuesday.
(NASA TV/Associated Press)

The shuttle landed on Runway 33, making a right overhead turn as it approached the landing facility.

Discovery's return to Earth was the first coast-to-coast re-entry by a space shuttle since the destruction of Columbia over Texas in 2003. The landing path started over British Columbia then cut diagonally east over the Great Plains and several southern U.S. states.

The descent into orbit began at 11:59 a.m. ET, when shuttle commander Pam Melroy and pilot George Zamka fired the jets for about two minutes to slow the vehicle. At 12:30, the shuttle encountered the effects of the atmosphere, a point called "entry interface," and five minutes later it began a series of rolls to help it slow down and bleed off excess energy. 

The crew had completed landing preparations earlier in the day, including changing into their orange launch-and-entry suits, testing flight control systems and thruster jets, stowing equipment and installing a special reclining seat for astronaut Clay Anderson, who is returning after five months aboard the International Space Station.

The original landing plan called for a pre-dawn touchdown in Florida with a flight over Central America and the Caribbean. However, crew fatigue after the long and busy mission, which began Oct. 23, led NASA to change plans.

Astronauts undocked from the International Space Station on Monday and used Tuesday to ensure the shuttle was prepared for re-entry, using a laser-tipped boom to check the ship for any micrometeorite damage.

Busy, successful mission

During the 15-day mission, the astronauts dealt with two power problems aboard the space station — a malfunctioning rotary joint for moving the station's solar wings and a solar wing that ripped as it was unfurled. The crew used its fourth spacewalk to repair the tear. The rotary joint will remain in a parked position until the problem is resolved.

Astronauts also installed an Italian-built connection module called Harmony to a temporary home on the station and moved a truss equipped with a solar array to its new home on the station's port side.

Additionally, U.S. astronaut Daniel Tani joined the three-person station crew, relieving fellow American Anderson.