We've polled the crew and we're 'go' for the moon

Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria

Despite strong cross winds, the shuttle landed at 1437 EST (1937GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, bringing home the crew of seven astronauts.

The touchdown came just a day before Endeavour's fuel and supplies would have run out.

The returning crew included three astronauts from the Expedition Five - Valery Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev - who had spent six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The remaining four astronauts were in orbit for 15 days, helping to deliver the Expedition Six to the ISS and successfully adding a 14-tonne truss segment for the ship.

'Home for Christmas'

The delay - caused by heavy clouds over the landing site - was the longest in the 21-year history of the space shuttle programme.

Endeavour waited for the landing since Wednesday

Endeavour was scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, but over the past three days each time the US space agency's (Nasa) mission control had to put off the landing.

But on Saturday, Nasa was determined to bring the shuttle home, as the agency also prepared a back-up landing site at the Edwards Air Force base in California.

Mission control even woke up the crew with Perry Como's recording of I'll Be Home For Christmas.

The landing games with Nasa helped keep the astronauts amused, and the crew even joked that they might look elsewhere if they could not land on Earth.

"We've polled the crew and we're 'go' for the moon," astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria said.

Steak and Caesar salad

To ease their return to gravity, the three "veteran" astronauts rode back in reclining shuttle seats.

Medical personnel stood by with stretchers, in case the crew was too weak to walk.

The astronauts will have to undergo an extensive therapy programme to strengthen their muscles and bone.

Dr Witson - only the third American woman to make a long space journey - faces six weeks of rehabilitation. She will not be allowed to drive for up to a month.

The 42-year-old American said she was looking forward to eating meals that did not come in bags and sipping soft drinks.

More than a week ago she put in an order to Nasa for a steak and Caesar salad with plenty of garlic.