Atlantis lands safely
Afp, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Space shuttle Atlantis made a pre-dawn landing here yesterday after a successful 12-day construction mission to the orbiting International Space Station. The shuttle touched down at Kennedy Space Centre at 6:21 am (1021 GMT), in the space shuttle programme's 15th nighttime landing in Florida. "Welcome back, Congratu-lations on return," Nasa communicator Tony Antonelli told the Atlantis crew as they ground to a halt on the runway. "It's nice to be back," answered Atlantis Commander Brent Jett, who piloted the third shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia disaster that killed seven astronauts. The shuttle's landing was delayed by 24 hours after several small, unidentified objects were discovered orbiting along with Atlantis. On closer inspection Wednesday, the objects were deemed to be objects lost by the shuttle during its manoeuvres.
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The space US Shuttle Atlantis is surrounded by land support personnel after landing early yesterday at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. Atlantis is carrying a six person crew returning from a mission to the International Space Station. PHOTO: AFP |
