The US space shuttle Endeavour returned to its Florida home port on Tuesday, touching down safely at the Kennedy Space Center following a hectic but successful 13-day mission to the International Space Station.
Commander Scott Kelly gently steered the 100-tonne spaceship through breezy, blue skies before nosing Endeavour down onto a 4.8-km, canal-lined runway just a short distance from the seaside launch pad where the shuttle's journey began on Aug 8. “Welcome home. You've given a new meaning to higher education,” said astronaut Chris Ferguson at mission control in Houston, a reference to teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan, an Endeavour crew member.
The shuttle made a smooth landing despite a ding in the belly caused when a piece of foam broke off during liftoff.
NASA brought the shuttle home a day earlier than planned when it appeared Hurricane Dean could force an evacuation of the Houston center. But the storm took a more southerly course and hit Mexico's Caribbean coast on Tuesday.