Endeavour touches down. Photo: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

Running three days late, the shuttle Endeavour finally glided back to Earth today - just one day before the astronauts would have run out of clean air - leaving a fresh crew behind on the international space station and bringing their three predecessors home after a marathon six-month stay in orbit.

After a computer-controlled plunge to a point about 50,000 feet above the Kennedy Space Center, commander James Wetherbee, making a record fifth descent as a shuttle skipper, took over manual control and guided the spaceplane to a picture-perfect landing on runway 33 at 2:37:12 p.m. EST.

Landing came a record three days later than planned after low clouds and rain blocked multiple re-entry attempts Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The crew had enough supplies to stay in orbit until Sunday, when they would have run out of lithium hydroxide to scrub carbon dioxide from their air supply. As it was, the astronauts set a record by using four days of landing opportunities to get home.

And when all was said and done, it was smooth sailing for Wetherbee and his crewmates. Predicted high crosswinds did not materialize and Wetherbee had no problems closing out a mission spanning 5.7 million miles and 215 complete orbits since blastoff Nov. 23 from nearby pad 39A. Unofficial mission duration was 13 days 18 hours 47 minutes and 25 seconds.

"Houston, Endeavour, wheels stopped," Wetherbee said in a traditional call to Houston as the shuttle coasted to a halt on the 3-mile-long runway.

"Welcome home after a great flight to close out a banner year for the world's manned space programs," replied astronaut Duane Carey from mission control. "And welcome home to Valery, Peggy and Sergei after your half year off the planet. Great job."

The returning space station crew - Expedition 5 commander Valery Korzun, flight engineer Sergei Treschev and science officer Peggy Whitson - made the trip back to Earth resting on their backs in recumbent seats to ease their return to the effects of gravity. Flight surgeons were standing bay to assist and to provide quick medical exams before reunions with family members and friends.

Korzun, Treschev and Whitson logged 185 days in space as the space station's fifth full-time residents.

Whitson said earlier in the week that all three station fliers were in excellent physical condition and that she planned to walk off the shuttle under her own power if possible.

"Why not? If I can, I want to walk off," she said. "Our station crew members have been coming back in better shape than the folks who came back from Mir and I think a lot of it has to do with the exercise training program that we're working on now, using resistive exercises in addition to the treadmill and ergometer."

During an orbital news conference before departing the space station, Whitson said she was looking forward to a steak dinner with a Caesar salad and "tons of garlic" along with "something carbonated. We don't have any carbonated drinks up here so I'm looking forward to that. And anything with ice in it would be very nice as well!"

Treschev said he was looking forward to a "big hot dog, maybe" and Korzun said he simply wanted to eat and drink normal food for a few days "and then diet."

No word yet on how Whitson wants her steak cooked.

All three plan to spend the weekend at the Kennedy Space Center and fly back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston Monday. Endeavour's four crew members - Wetherbee, Lockhart, John Herrington and Michael Lopez-Alegria - plan to fly back Sunday.

Korzun, Treschev and Whitson were replaced aboard the station by Expedition 6 commander Kenneth Bowersox, flight engineer Nikolai Budarin and science officer Donald Pettit, who plan to remain aloft through at least March.

Swapping out the Expedition 5 and 6 crew was one of two major objectives for the 112th shuttle mission. The other was installation of a $390 million solar array truss extension, the fourth of 11 segments that ultimately will make up a beam stretching some 365 feet.

The new P1, or port 1, truss segment was installed on the left side of the growing solar array truss during three spacewalks by Herrington and Lopez-Alegria. P1 and a virtually identical segment, installed on the right side of the truss in October, provide the ammonia cooling equipment and radiators needed to dissipate the heat generated by the lab's electronics.

NASA managers were elated with the success of Endeavour's mission.

"This flight was outstanding, we completed three spacewalks, which included all of the planned tasks for this mission and in addition, we were able to get some get-ahead tasks that will help with future missions," said Linda Ham, director of shuttle integration. "We installed the port-1 truss on the S-zero truss up on the space station, that was the major objective.

"We transferred more than two tons of logistics from the shuttle to the station and took back over two tons of logistics from the station to the shuttle. We transferred water, we also swapped out the crew. The existing crew that was up there was up there over 180 days so I think it was time for them to come down.

"We did reboost the station up about six nautical miles to a higher orbit," Ham said. "It was an excellent mission."

The station's main solar arrays will be attached to each end of the main truss later in the assembly sequence. That work starts next year.

But first, NASA plans to launch the shuttle Columbia around Jan. 16 on a microgravity research mission featuring the first Israeli astronaut. Columbia's flight is one of the only remaining non-station related missions on the shuttle manifest. Security is expected to be tight.

"Everything is on track for the January launch date," Ham said. "Both the payloads and the customers are eager to launch this flight."

Video coverage for subscribers only:
   VIDEO: TWO-MINUTE CLIP OF ENDEAVOUR'S LANDING QT or RV
   VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR MAKES TURN TO ALIGN WITH RUNWAY QT or RV
   VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA VIEW OF APPROACH AND LANDING QT or RV
   VIDEO: LANDING REPLAY FROM RUNWAY MID-FIELD QT or RV
   VIDEO: INFRARED CAMERA FOOTAGE OF LANDING QT or RV
   VIDEO: VIEW FROM SOUTH-END OF RUNWAY QT or RV
   VIDEO: VIEW FROM NORTH-END OF RUNWAY QT or RV
   VIDEO: VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOF CAMERA QT or RV
   VIDEO: ENDEAVOUR LANDING WITH PADS IN BACKGROUND QT or RV
   VIDEO: POST-LANDING SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM UPDATE QT or RV
   VIDEO: ENGINES MOVED TO 'RAIN DRAIN' POSITION QT or RV
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